The Fracture of Single‐Crystal Silicon Under Several Liquid Environments

Chen, T.-J.; Knapp, W. J.

doi:10.1111/j.1151-2916.1980.tb10697.x

Cited by 26 publications

(7 citation statements)

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“…However, unlike silicon, amorphous SiO 2 is highly susceptible to environmentally assisted cracking in moist environments; indeed, the threshold stress intensity, K scc , for such cracking is much less than K c , i.e., typically K scc ∼ 0.25 MPa √ m, in contrast to silicon where K scc ≈ K c . [22][23][24] Indeed, such effects have recently been suggested for subcritical crack growth in borosilicate glass. 48 Because no evidence of dislocation activity near the crack or phase transformations in the vicinity of the notch root was detected, the fatigue of structural silicon films in ambient air is deemed to be associated with stress-corrosion cracking in the native oxide layer that has been thickened under cyclic loading.…”

Section: Mechanisms Of Fatigue In Polycrystalline Silicon Filmsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…4. However, unlike silicon, amorphous SiO 2 is highly susceptible to environmentally assisted cracking in moist environments; indeed, the threshold stress intensity, K scc , for such cracking is much less than K c , i.e., typically K scc ∼ 0.25 MPa√m, in contrast to silicon where K scc ≈ K c 22–24 . Indeed, such effects have recently been suggested for subcritical crack growth in borosilicate glass 48 .…”

Section: Fatigue Of Polycrystalline Silicon Structural Filmsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…21 Moreover, silicon is not susceptible to environmentally induced cracking, e.g. stress-corrosion cracking, in moist air or water [22][23][24] at growth rates measurable in bulk specimens. These observations strongly suggest that silicon should not fatigue at room temperature.…”

Section: F At I G U E O F P O Ly C R Y S Ta L L I N E S I L I C O N Smentioning

confidence: 99%

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Characterization of structural films using microelectromechanical resonators

Muhlstein

2005

Fatigue Fract Eng Mat Struct

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A B S T R A C T Micromachined resonant fatigue characterization structures have been used by a varietyof investigators to evaluate the stress-life fatigue behaviour of thin films. This work will review the design, testing and analysis of these versatile thin-film characterization structures. Subsequent discussion will illustrate how this material characterization approach has been used to evaluate the high-cycle fatigue behaviour of silicon films commonly used in microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). This work demonstrates that properly designed resonators can be used to monitor extraordinarily low fatigue crack growth rates (i.e. 10 −10 m/cycle) relevant to these minute mechanical components. a = crack length A = amplitude of motion b = resistive force f 0 = natural frequency F = applied force h = oxide layer thickness J θ = mass polar moment of inertia k = stiffness k θ = rotational stiffness K = linear elastic stress intensity factor m = mass N = number of cycles Q = quality factor R = load ratio t = time x = position γ = damping parameter σ ult = ultimate strength ω = frequency I N T R O D U C T I O NIt is generally accepted that the fracture toughness and fatigue resistance of bulk materials are linked to the development and deterioration of intrinsic and extrinsic cracktip shielding mechanisms. 1,2 Cyclic fatigue is the most commonly encountered mode of failure in structural materials, occurring in both ductile (metallic) and brittle (ceCorrespondence: Christopher L. Muhlstein.

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Section: Mechanisms Of Fatigue In Polycrystalline Silicon Filmsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Fatigue Of Polycrystalline Silicon Structural Filmsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Characterization of structural films using microelectromechanical resonators

Muhlstein

2005

Fatigue Fract Eng Mat Struct

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“…indeed, the threshold stress intensity, K scc , for such cracking is much less than K c , i.e., typically K scc ~ 0.25 MPa√m, in contrast to silicon where K scc ≈ K c [14][15][16]. Indeed, such effects have recently been suggested for subcritical crack growth in borosilicate glass [41].…”

Section: Fatigue Fracturesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Moreover, silicon is not susceptible to environmentally-induced cracking (stress-corrosion cracking) in moist air or water [14][15][16] at growth rates measurable in bulk specimens. These observations strongly suggest that silicon should not fatigue at room temperature.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A reaction-layer mechanism for the delayed failure of micron-scale polycrystalline silicon structural films subjected to high-cycle fatigue loading

2002

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Abstract-A study has been made of high-cycle fatigue in 2-µm thick structural films of n + -type, polycrystalline silicon for MEMS applications. Using an "on-chip" test structure resonating at ~40 kHz, such thin-film polysilicon is shown to display "metal-like" stress-life fatigue behavior in room air environments, with failures occurring after lives in excess of 10 11 cycles at stresses as low as half the fracture strength. Through in-situ monitoring of the natural frequency to evaluate the damage evolution by notch-root oxidation and cracking, and using transmission electron microscopy to image such damage, it is concluded that the mechanism of thin-film silicon fatigue involves sequential oxidation and environmentallyassisted cracking in the native SiO 2 layer. This moisture-induced "reaction-layer fatigue" mechanism can also occur in bulk silicon but it is only significant in thin films where the critical crack size for catastrophic failure can be reached by a crack growing within the oxide layer. The susceptibility of thin-film silicon to fatigue failure is shown to be suppressed by the use of alkene-based self-assembled monolayer coatings that prevent the formation of the native oxide.

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Mechanisms for Fatigue of Micron‐Scale Silicon Structural Films

et al. 2007

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SummaryAlthough bulk silicon is not susceptible to fatigue, micron-scale silicon is. Several mechanisms have been proposed to explain this surprising behavior although the issue remains contentious. Here we describe published fatigue results for micron-scale thin silicon films and find that in general they display similar trends, in that lower cyclic stresses result in larger number of cycles to failure in stress-lifetime data. We further show that one of two classes of mechanisms is invariably proposed to explain the phenomenon. The first class attributes fatigue to a surface effect caused by subcritical (stable) cracking in the silicon-oxide layer, e.g., reaction-layer fatigue; the second class proposes that subcritical cracking in the silicon itself is the cause of fatigue in Si films. It is our contention that results to date from single and poly crystalline silicon fatigue studies provide no convincing experimental evidence to support subcritical cracking in the silicon. Conversely, the reaction-layer mechanism is consistent with existing experimental results, and moreover provides a rational explanation for the marked difference in fatigue behavior of bulk and micron-scale silicon.

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The Fracture of Single‐Crystal Silicon Under Several Liquid Environments

Cited by 26 publications

References 1 publication

Characterization of structural films using microelectromechanical resonators

Characterization of structural films using microelectromechanical resonators

A reaction-layer mechanism for the delayed failure of micron-scale polycrystalline silicon structural films subjected to high-cycle fatigue loading

Mechanisms for Fatigue of Micron‐Scale Silicon Structural Films

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