The quantitative nanomechanical characterization of soft materials using the nanoindentation tech-nique requires further improvements in the performances of instruments, including their force resolution in particular. A micro-machined silicon nanoforce transducer based upon electrostatic comb drives featuring the force and depth resolutions down to ∼1 nN and 0.2 nm, respectively, is described. At the end of the MEMS transducer's main shaft, a pyramidal tip is fabricated using a focused ion beam facility. A proof-of-principle setup with this MEMS nanoindenter has been established to measure the mechanical properties of soft polydimethylsiloxane. First measurement results demonstrate that the prototype measurement system is able to quantitatively characterize soft materials with elastic moduli down to a few MPa.

A conductive MEMS based scanning probe microscope (MEMS-SPM) has been developed to measure the mechanical and electrical properties of nanostructured materials including nanopillars and nanowires for energy harvesting devices. The MEMS-SPM features an integrated AFM cantilever gripper, with which various conductive AFM probes can be used as tactile stylus for nano-dimensional, nanomechanical and -electrical measurements. First measurement results will be presented.