Mechanical and tribological characterization of a thermally actuated MEMS cantilever

Abstract

The temperature effect on the mechanical and tribological behaviors of a microelectromechanical systems cantilever is experimentally investigated using an atomic force microscope. A nonlinear variation of the bending stiffness of microcantilevers as a function of temperature is determined. The variation of the adhesion force between the tip of atomic force microscope (AFM) probe (Si 3 N 4 ) and the microcantilever fabricated in gold is monitored at different temperatures. Using the lateral mode operation of atomic force microscope, the influence of temperature on friction coefficient between the tip of AFM probe and microcantilever is presented. Finite element analysis is used to estimate the thermal field distribution in microcantilever and the axial expansion.

Study of notched MEMS specimen: elasto-plastic modeling and experimental testing

“…Moreover, since MEMS technology integrates microdevices or systems combining electrical and mechanical components, the failure modes and mechanisms must be interpreted before they can be traced back to the most known failure mechanisms in the traditional field of electronics or mechanics. Several mechanical failure mechanisms in MEMS and experimental testing procedures have been presented in the literature, considering different applications and microfabrication processes, such as buckling [4], fatigue [5,6], thermal effect and creep [7][8][9][10], wear and tribology [11]. The mechanical reliability of MEMS devices is strongly influenced by the microfabrication process and mechanical properties of the structural material including Young's Modulus, yield strength, fracture strength, creep, residual stress, and stress-strain relationship under different loading conditions.…”

Design of a high‐speed electrothermal linear micromotor for microelectromechanical systems safety‐and‐arming devices

“…In recent years, MEMS devices have been used in the military field because MEMS technologies have a great potential to decline the volume, mass, cost and power consumption of munitions [3]. MEMS electrothermal micromotors are studied extensively [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11] and more suitable for SA devices because of the large output force and low applied voltage as compared with electrostatic ones [12,13]. Table 1 lists some dimensional and performance data for a variety of electrothermal linear micromotors that have been characterised in the literature.…”