A thin chromium film formation monitoring method: Monitoring of the early stages

A method to monitor thin film deposition on insulating and semiconductive substrates based on the surface conductivity measurements is proposed. This method differs from previous thin film conductivity measurement methods by the absence of an external power source. Instead, it employs natural charges carried by ions and electrons that are present in a vapor that is deposited. The ability to monitor thin film conductivity, starting with early nucleation stages up to the formation of the integrally conductive film is shown by a comparison of in-situ recorded voltage changes and ex-situ by X-Ray photoelectron spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy analysis of the stepwise covered samples. Repeatability of the experimental data was within a ± 25% interval at the experimental parameter region where an integrally conductive film starts to form.