Optical Characterization of Mechanical Properties of Thin Films and Structures

Abstract

The developments of miniaturized tests are vital task in materials science and is currently important problem in many domains in science and technology. In addition to the microelectronics or optoelectronics, traditional technologies like microlitography and microfabrication are rapidly finding applications in many areas, from sensors and actuators to biomedical devices. An explosive demand is expected for microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) for use in industries such as automotive, chemical, aircrafts etc. MEMS will also find applications for in-situ process monitoring, and numerous other sensor and actuators system [1]. As a rule microsystems use association of various components such as films, membranes, wires and shells. Evaluating the mechanical properties (Young’s modulus, biaxial modulus, shear modulus, flexural modulus) of such components is a new challenge in mechanical engineering [2–6]. On the other hand scaling down the size brings that film thickness is comparable to microstructural dimensions (grain size, dislocation spacing), where film properties can significantly different from the volume ones. The study of the mechanical properties of thin films requires a high degree of accuracy for the measurements of the stress-strain or strain-time data.