Nanocharacterization of the Mechanical and Tribological Behavior of MEMS Micromembranes

Abstract

This chapter presents the experimental investigation and numerical simulation of micromembranes supported by serial-parallel connected hinges. The micromembranes can be used in optical applications or as the flexible mechanical element in radio frequency microelectromechanical system switches. A method to determine the micromembrane stiffness is presented. Experimentally, the out-of-plane micromembranes deflection is performed using an atomic force microscope. The dependence between deflection and the applied force gives the sample stiffness. The flexible plate of micromembranes is directly deflected to substrate, and the adhesion force is measured. The micromembranes are electroplated with gold, and two series of the serial connected hinges are investigated. Each of them has different parallel connected hinges. The experimental results of stiffness and adhesion force are compared with analytical and numerical results. The presented method is also applied to determine the stiffness of micromembranes supported by other types of hinges.