Development of Thin Gold Film Tensile Testing by Floating Specimen on Water Surface

Abstract

We report a novel methodology for thin film tensile testing by floating the specimen on water surface. The tensile testing system consists of a load cell, a linear DC motor and a digital image correlating (DIC) device. E beam evaporated thin gold films have been tested as a model material. The attraction between polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) coated grips and the specimen was used as a gripping force. By applying a tensile load through the DC motor, the load was measured through the load cell and real time strain monitoring was achieved by DIC device. The obtained mechanical properties for 500nm gold film specimens were young's modulus ~ 65 GPa, yield strength ~ 338 MPa, tensile strength ~ 378 MPa and fracture at strain ~ 0.89%. To verify the validation of introduced method, these results were compared with literature reviewed and it was similar to previously reported values.