Evaluating the Mechanical Properties of MEMS by Combining the Resonance Frequency and Microtensile Methods

Abstract

ABSTRACTTensile, fracture and fatigue properties of single- and polycrystalline silicon and LIGA-Ni were evaluated by the resonance frequency and microtensile methods. A new method for evaluating the fracture toughness that combines these two methods was proposed. A pre-crack was generated in an electrostatically driven test specimen and a load was applied by piezoelectrically driven microtensile equipment. Before the microtensile test, a new surface micromachining technique including a two-step sacrificial layer removal was used. The pre-cracked specimen was attached to microtensile equipment by a UV-adhesive glass grip. The fatigue pre-crack was successfully introduced and the fracture toughness could be derived on the basis of fracture mechanics. The fracture toughness of the pre-cracked specimen was relatively low compared with that of the notched specimen, so that we were able to determine the effect of the notch tip radius. The fatigue properties of LIGA-Ni film were also evaluated. A tensile-tensile fatigue load was applied by a piezoelectric actuator, and real-time load-displacement curves were displayed via computer. The dependence of S-N curves, crack propagation rates and fatigue-notch factor on the applied load for 10 μm Ni film was analyzed.