Viscoelastic Material Properties of SU-8 and Carbon-Nanotube-Reinforced SU-8 Materials

Abstract

The viscoelastic material properties of SU-8 and carbon nanotube-reinforced SU-8 composite material are characterized by tensile testing. Dogbone samples of 0.1mm thickness are prepared by micro-fabrication process, which is composed of spin coat, soft bake, expose, and post exposure bake. To fabricate CNT polymer composite, carbon nano-tube of 0.2wt% is mixed with SU-8. To observe the effect of applied strain rate and temperature on Young's modulus and Poisson's ratio, strain rate is varied from 5×10-5 to 2.5×10-4 (/sec) at elevated temperatures in the range of 25 to 200°C. Since the viscoelastic material properties are important in polymer, creep, stress relaxation and dynamic mechanical analyses are performed at elevated temperatures. The viscoelastic material properties of SU-8 and CNT-reinforced SU-8 composite are compared, and the mechanical reliability of these polymers in MEMS applications is discussed.