Pull-in instability of multi-phase nanocrystalline silicon beams under distributed electrostatic force

Modeling the material structure and couple stress effects of nanocrystalline silicon beams for pull-in and bio-mass sensing applications

“…In NcMs, due to the extremely decrease in the grain sizes, some atoms reside in the interface regions between the grains with large volume fractions [35][36][37]42]. Precise experimental studies of NcMs have found that the atomic structure of the amorphous-like interface is distinct from those of the perfect crystal having larger average atomic spacings [39][40][41][42][43]47,48].…”

“…On the material structure level, another issue which has to be considered in studying the dynamic behaviors of mass sensors is the heterogeneity nature of the material structure [35][36][37]. Usually, mass sensors require micro/nano-sized resonators, such as beams and plates.…”

“…Usually, mass sensors require micro/nano-sized resonators, such as beams and plates. These micro/nano-resonators, as a consequence, are made from nano-structured materials including nanoparticle composites, nanoporous materials, and nanocrystalline materials [35][36][37]. The most dominant characteristics of nanostructured materials are the ultra-small inhomogeneity sizes and the ultra-high specific interface areas (interfaces between the different components of the material structure) [38].…”

“…In our previous research studies [35][36][37], a size-dependent micromechanical model have been proposed to model the material structure of micro/nano solids made of NcMs. This model is harnessed to study the effects of the grain size on the static-bending behavior of beams [35] and the static pull-in instability behavior of electrostatically actuated beams made of nanocrystalline silicon [36].…”

“…This model is harnessed to study the effects of the grain size on the static-bending behavior of beams [35] and the static pull-in instability behavior of electrostatically actuated beams made of nanocrystalline silicon [36]. In addition, a mechanical resonator with a tip mass have been modeled and used for estimating the material structure properties of nanocrystalline silicon and nanocrystalline diamond and used for disease diagnosis [37].…”