Review of thin film porosity characterization approaches

Abstract

The most important properties of porous thin films depend on the pore structure. The evaluation of porosity is of great importance for analyzing their pore structure. Some known methods were adapted and proposed for the study of thin films porosity, such as microscope techniques, radiation scattering, wave propagation, gas adsorption. Besides, there are some new approaches developed for thin film porosity, such as X-ray porosimetry, positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy, quartz crystal microbalance, and ellipsometric porosimetry. In this paper, the possibilities of various methods of studying thin films porosity will be discussed, including the latest developments in this area.