AbstractThis paper reports in situ measurement of Young’s modulus and residual stress of electroless nickel films through the use of microfabricated nickel test structures, including electrostatic microactuators and passive devices. The test structures are fabricated in a new surface micromachining process, termed “nickel surface micromachining”, using electroless plated nickel as the structural layer and polysilicon as the sacrificial layer. Subsequent to fabrication, lateral resonant-type electrostatic microactuators of different geometries are resonated by electrical excitation. Using the measured resonant frequencies and knowledge of the device geometry, the Young’s modulus of the film is determined. The passive electroless nickel microstructures deform upon completion of the fabrication process due to residual stress in the film. Measurement of this deformation in conjunction with an appropriate mechanical model is used to determine the residual stress in the films.
Experimental and DFT studies of carbon nanotubes covalently functionalized with an imidazole derivative for electrochemical stability and green corrosion inhibition as a barrier layer on the nickel alloy surface in a sulphuric acidic medium