Film stress measurements for high temperature micromechanical and microelectronical applications based on SiC

Film stress measurements of SiC-layers for high temperature applications were performed using the bending plate method and micro-Raman spectroscopy in the conventional plane-view and in the cross-sectional geometry. Both methods which independently measure the stress are found to yield consistent results. The stress for a nominal 1.9 μm thick SiC-layer is evaluated to be about 130–150 MPa with a concave curvature at room temperature. With respect to micromechanical and microelectronical applications the influence of an additional TiW metallization is also considered. In this case the maximum stress depends on the highest temperature applied to the system before.