DEFORMATION AND FATIGUE OF METALS AT SMALL SIZE SCALES 1125
components. The same manufacturing method as that
used for actual components should also be used. Major
challenges in characterising the mechanical properties of
small components are measuring the small forces and dis-
placements involved.
Mechanical property characterization involves the fol-
lowing issues:
8
r
Specimen design & manufacturing.
r
Gripping & force application.
r
Displacement or strain measurement.
Some of the micro-scale mechanical test methods (ten-
sion test, axisymmetric bend test, microbeam bend test,
bulge test, M-test, wafer curvature test, resonance tests,
passive strain sensors & Raman spectroscopy) were re-
cently reviewed by Srikar et al.
31
They proposed a rational
approach to selecting the test techniques required for the
design of different types of microsystem as follows:
r
Characterize the structure of interest.
r
Identify the mechanical properties of interest, including
residual stresses.
r
Select suitable test samples, bearing in mind that the time
and costs involved in specimen preparation are generally
much longer than for the actual mechanical testing. Where
possible, aim for simpler test samples that can be fabricated
in arrays or batches.
r
If more than one test method is suitable, narrow the choice
by considering the ease of instrumentation and gripping
and ease of data interpretation.
MEMS research has sparked an incredible burst of cre-
ativity in the design of devices and the methods used to
test them. This raises the familiar issue of standardization,
and whether or not results obtained in different labora-
tories are directly comparable. Tsuchiya et al.
32
organized
a round-robin test at five different Japanese institutions,
to tensile test single crystal silicon, polysilicon, thin film
nickel and thin film titanium. The methods used were:
1 On-chip tensile testing method with a motorized microm-
eter actuator.
2 A ‘palm top’ tester with a mechanical grip.
3 Motorized micrometer system with a mechanical clamp.
4 Piezo actuator with an electrostatic grip.
5 Magnetostrictive actuator with a micro-glued grip.
The main difference in techniques was the method of
gripping the samples. All five systems used image analysis
for strain measurement. Specimens of each material were
fabricated on a single wafer so the processing parameters
were the same. Even so, three different specimen designs
were required to fit the different test machines. The sin-
gle crystal & polycrystal silicon tests showed linear elas-
tic behaviour and stress–strain curves obtained from each
lab were similar. The nickel specimens had low ductility,
breaking soon after yield. There was a large difference
in the curve slopes and strains to failure for different labs.
The largest strains were observed in tests with lower load-
ing rates, illustrating how test conditions like strain rate
can influence the observed properties. For titanium, re-
sults were similar for all labs, but problems of specimen
damage were encountered with the mechanical gripping
methods.
In addition to mechanical testing, material characteri-
zation is required to understand structure-property re-
lationships, identify the cause of failure and explain any
observed size effects. Desirable information includes:
r
Microstructure (grain size, porosity, distribution of flaws
and inclusions, dislocation density).
r
Surface roughness and topography.
r
Environmental interactions (corrosion, response to tem-
perature).
r
Fractographic information.
So, before comparing test results from different research
groups, it must be remembered that materials processing
parameters, device fabrication parameters and test proce-
dures vary from laboratory to laboratory, even for what is
ostensibly the same material (for example LIGA nickel).
This is understandable, given the flexibility and creativity
enabled by micro-fabrication techniques. In the follow-
ing sections, mechanical test results for different types of
metallic structure are reviewed, with the aim of summaris-
ing the range of information available.
Monotonic deformation
Monotonic mechanical properties are required so that
the desired deflection or deformation of micro-scale de-
vices can be predicted. For devices that operate in the
elastic regime, knowledge of the size effects on elastic
modulus and yield strength is required. In other devices,
controlled yielding may be utilized as part of a deploy-
ment process, so sufficient ductility and tensile strength is
necessary to avoid premature fracture. Knowledge of
monotonic stress–strain behaviour is also important for
determining the level of in-service stresses that could
cause fatigue. The available monotonic data for foils and
films are summarized in Table 1, which shows that no
study has fully characterized trends in tensile properties
(elastic modulus, proof stress, ultimate tensile strength
and elongation) as a function of thickness, specimen size
and microstructure. Similar data for wires are summarized
in Table 2.
c
2005 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Fatigue Fract Engng Mater Struct
28, 1119–1152