@article{GruberChakravartyBaehtzetal.2011, author = {Gruber, W. and Chakravarty, S. and Baehtz, C. and Leitenberger, Wolfram and Bruns, M. and Kobler, A. and K{\"u}bel, Christian and Schmidt, H.}, title = {Strain relaxation and vacancy creation in thin platinum films}, series = {Physical review letters}, volume = {107}, journal = {Physical review letters}, number = {26}, publisher = {American Physical Society}, address = {College Park}, issn = {0031-9007}, doi = {10.1103/PhysRevLett.107.265501}, pages = {5}, year = {2011}, abstract = {Synchrotron based combined in situ x-ray diffractometry and reflectometry is used to investigate the role of vacancies for the relaxation of residual stress in thin metallic Pt films. From the experimentally determined relative changes of the lattice parameter a and of the film thickness L the modification of vacancy concentration and residual strain was derived as a function of annealing time at 130 degrees C. The results indicate that relaxation of strain resulting from compressive stress is accompanied by the creation of vacancies at the free film surface. This proves experimentally the postulated dominant role of vacancies for stress relaxation in thin metal films close to room temperature.}, language = {en} }