6.5.4  Summary and Conclusion

A methodology to estimate the residual stress of a metal film with low adatom mobility was presented. The problem requires a statistical approach due to the random characteristic of the coalescence process. A 1D simulation of the Volmer-Weber growth process is performed and a droplets’ size distribution is generated from this simulation. The distribution is then used as an input of an iterative process including finite element simulations, in order to obtain an average stress in the film considering different droplet sizes. The estimate was compared to previous experimental work. The simulated results suggest a tendency for underestimation, although it cannot be entirely confirmed due to the small number of experimental data available.