A precision capacitance cell for measurement of thin film out-of-plane expansion. I. Thermal expansion

Abstract

A high sensitivity technique based on a three-terminal parallel plate capacitor for the measurement of the out-of-plane expansion of thin films is presented. The necessary assembly protocols and data reduction techniques for the proper use of this capacitance cell are presented. To demonstrate the ability of the technique to produce correct results for the thermal expansion of materials, the results on 〈0001〉 single crystal Al2O3 are shown and compared to the literature. Also, results for a thin polymeric film designed for use as an interlayer dielectric are shown to display the utility of the technique to resolve the measurement of displacement in thin films.