Abstract
In this paper, we describe the influence of 700 °C vacuum annealing on strength and fracture behavior of micro- and nano-scale Si structures fabricated by focused ion beam (FIB). Si nanowires (NWs) made from silicon-on-nothing (SON) membrane are fabricated using FIB. Microscale Si specimens are fabricated by conventional micromachining technologies and FIB. These specimens are tensioned to failure using specially developed microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) device and thin-film tensile tester, respectively. The mean fracture strengths of the nano- and microscale specimens are 5.6 and 1.6 GPa, respectively, which decrease to 2.9 and 0.9 GPa after vacuum annealing at 700 °C for only 10 s. These strength values do not vary with increasing annealing time. Fracture origin and its behavior are discussed in the light of fracture surface and FIB damage layer observations.
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