Methods for the determination of film continuity and growth modes in thin dielectric films

A method for determining continuity of a material on a substrate, comprising:

• depositing the material on the substrate using a first value of a growth metric;
• depositing an amount of charge on a surface of the material;
• repeatedly measuring a surface voltage of the material until an onset of tunneling to provide a Vtunnel value;
• repeating the above steps for different values of the growth metric;
• determining a growth mode of the material on the substrate, the determining including:
• comparing a first derivative of a Vtunnel per growth metric curve versus the growth metric;
• and
• examining a linearity of results of the comparison to determine the growth mode of the material on the substrate, wherein a linear region corresponds to a layer-by-layer growth mode of the material on the substrate, and wherein the non-linear region corresponds to an islanded growth mode of the material on the substrate;
• and
• comparing the Vtunnel values for different values of the growth metric to provide a measure of the continuity of the material on the substrate.