The kinetics of tensile-stress relaxation in thin metal films attached to inert substrates, controlled by chemical interdiffusion along the grain boundaries, was considered. It was assumed that the source of diffusing atoms was located at the surface of the film. It was shown that the kinetics of stress relaxation in the film could be accelerated or slowed down as compared with the same kinetics in a single-component film; depending upon the difference in intrinsic grain-boundary diffusion coefficients of the two components. In the case of faster matrix atoms, the tensile stress in the film increased significantly beyond its initial value at the beginning of the interdiffusion process while, in the case of faster diffuser atoms, the compressive stresses developed in the film in the intermediate stages of stress evolution.

Grain Boundary Interdiffusion and Stresses in Thin Polycrystalline Films. L.Klinger, E.Rabkin: Journal of Materials Science, 2011, 46[12], 4343-8