Optimization of mechanical properties of thin free-standing metal films for RF-MEMS

2004 ◽  
Vol 820 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jaap M.J. den Toonder ◽  
Auke R. van Dijken

AbstractThe mechanical properties of the thin film materials used in RF-MEMS are crucial for the reliability and proper functioning of the devices. In this paper we study a large number of aluminum alloys as possible RF-MEMS thin film materials. The yield strength and creep properties are measured using nano-indentation. The results show that the mechanical properties of thin aluminum films can be improved substantially by alloying elements. Of the alloys studied in this paper, AlCuMgMn in particular seems quite promising as a thin film material for RF MEMS, having both high yield strength and little creep. Using X-ray diffraction and electron microscopy, the observed effects are partly explained.

2010 ◽  
Vol 146-147 ◽  
pp. 1671-1674 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tian Guo Wang ◽  
Qun Qin ◽  
Dong Jian Zhou

Ti-6Al-Mo-Fe alloys were prepared by blended elemental powder metallurgy process. In this paper, the mechanical properties and microstructure of Ti-6Al-Mo-Fe alloys sintered from the powders ball-milled for various periods of time were investigated by means of contrition behavior testing, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy. With an increase in ball milling time form 1h to 10h, the microstructure evolved into a fine β phase within the α matrix. For the Ti-6Al-Mo-Fe alloy, the yield strength and elongation increase as the milling time is prolonged. It was found that the bulk alloys made from the powders ball milled for 6 h exhibited relatively high elongation of 17.8% and high yield strength of 914 MPa.


1999 ◽  
Vol 562 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Liu ◽  
L. Shen ◽  
H. Jiang ◽  
D. Yang ◽  
G. Wu ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTThe Ni80Fe20/Fe50Mn50,thin film system exhibits exchange bias behavior. Here a systematic study of the effect of atomic-scale thin film roughness on coercivity and exchange bias is presented. Cu (t) / Ta (100 Å) / Ni80Fe20 (100 Å) / Fe50Mno50 (200 Å) / Ta (200 Å) with variable thickness, t, of the Cu underlayer were DC sputtered on Si (100) substrates. The Cu underlayer defines the initial roughness that is transferred to the film material since the film grows conformal to the initial morphology. Atomic Force Microscopy and X-ray diffraction were used to study the morphology and texture of the films. Morphological characterization is then correlated with magnetometer measurements. Atomic Force Microscopy shows that the root mean square value of the film roughness exhibits a maximum of 2.5 Å at t = 2.4 Å. X-ray diffraction spectra show the films are polycrystalline with fcc (111) texture and the Fe50Mn50 (111) peak intensity decreases monotonically with increasing Cu thickness, t. Without a Cu underlayer, the values of the coercivity and loop shift are, Hc = 12 Oe and Hp = 56 Oe, respectively. Both the coercivity and loop shift change with Cu underlayer thickness. The coercivity reaches a maximum value of Hc= 36 Oe at t = 4 Å. The loop shift exhibits an initial increase with t, reaches a maximum value of HP = 107 Oe at t = 2.4 Å, followed by a decrease with greater Cu thickness. These results show that a tiny increase in the film roughness has a huge effect on the exchange bias magnitude.


1993 ◽  
Vol 311 ◽  
Author(s):  
A.Peter Jardine ◽  
Peter G. Mercado

ABSTRACTAlthough the thermo-mechanical properties of NiTi are well known for bulk material, its deposition and utilization as a thin film are still in their earliest stages of research. The deposition of thin-films of Shape Memory Effect NiTi onto Si(100) wafers offers several advantages over bulk NiTi, including fast response times and comparatively large transformation forces. This has made it a promising candidate material as micro-actuators for Micro-Electro-Mechanical (MEMS) systems as well as for strain measurements. The cycling time for actuation was measured for a 20 μm free standing NiTi thin film cantilever. It was demonstrated that cycling frequencies of up to 50 Hz are achievable.


1990 ◽  
Vol 192 ◽  
Author(s):  
S.J. Jones ◽  
W.A. Turner ◽  
D. Pang ◽  
W. Paul

ABSTRACTResults from structural measurements on r.f. glow discharge produced a-Ge:H films have been found to be substrate dependent. The variations in the results were found to depend on both the substrate temperature, Ts, and the substrate yield strength. Differential scanning calorimetry results were particularly affected by these parameters. For films prepared at Ts = 150°C, the DSC spectra contain two exothermic peaks when the films are deposited on low yield strength substrates while only one exothermic peak is present for films deposited on high yield strength substrates. One exothermic DSC peak is seen in spectra for all films prepared at Ts = 300°C no matter what substrates were used. This DSC spectral dependence is attributed to differences in the microstructure of films deposited at the two substrate temperatures, as seen in TEM micrographs. X-ray diffraction measurements performed on films annealed to various temperatures show that all of the exothermic DSC peaks described above are associated with the crystallization process. Thus, for the films prepared at low Ts, crystallization is either a one or two step process depending on the yield strength of the substrate.


2010 ◽  
Vol 638-642 ◽  
pp. 3453-3458 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susil K. Putatunda ◽  
Abhijit Deokar ◽  
Gowtham Bingi

A new bainitic steel with a combination of exceptionally high yield strength and fracture toughness has been developed. This steel has been synthesized by austempering a medium carbon low alloy steel by a novel two-step austempering process. The influence of this two-step austempering on the microstructure and the mechanical properties of this new steel have been examined.


Author(s):  
Ramya K ◽  
Yuvaraja T

<p>Cadmium telluride (CdTe) thin film material was deposited ontop of Cadmium Sulfide (CdS) substrate using vacuum evaporation technique. The sample was characterized using X-ray diffraction(XRD) and UV-VIS-NIR spectroscopy. XRD studies revealed that the sample was polycrystalline in nature. The SEM image showed that the sample is columnar in structure and the grains are uniform. Optical band gap of the CdTe thin film was estimated from transmittance and reflectance data and it was found 1.53eV.The structural, optical and surface properties of the film showed that the CdTe thin film materials can be used for fabrication of CdTe thin film solar cell.</p>


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
HYUN KYU PARK ◽  
Hyuk Lee ◽  
Vanissorn Vimonsatit

Abstract Road failures are often caused by structural weaknesses, and particularly unsealed roads are vulnerable to water as water easily flows into road structures. Moisture susceptibility of materials is an important aspect when pavements are designed as moisture can weaken bonds between aggregates. Pindan soil is a red soil, known as a soft and moisture sensitive soil. Polymer stabilisers have been proved that they can improve soil mechanical properties by providing an internal waterproofing. Studies of the polymer-Pindan soil stabilisation have been focused on engineering performances, but literature shows little information on the fundamental information of Pindan soil. This project focuses on fundamental information of Pindan soil and its improved performances using polymer stabilisers. Plastic index, specific gravity and particle size distribution were tested to obtain the basic properties. Compaction, Unconfined Compressive Strength and California Bearing Ratio tests were performed to determine the mechanical properties. The chemical property was examined using X-ray diffraction. Furthermore, the waterproof effect of the polymers on the stabilised Pindan soil was investigated from capillary rise tests. In addition, the mechanical properties of individual soil grains were investigated using nanoindentation tests. The materials used for this investigation primarily consisted of Pindan soil collected in Broome, Western Australia, and three polymer products manufactured in Australia. Based on the results, it is evident that the failure behaviour, strain and strength as well as the basic properties of the soils are affected and changed by the Polymer stabilisers. The type of polymer influenced the optimum moisture contents and strengths rather than the amount of polymer. Similarly, Nanoindentation technology provided various information such as elastic modulus, hardness, packing density, stiffness, cohesion and fracture toughness of soils at nano-scales. Polymers can reduce water ingress and minimise moisture in the pavement structures. Thus, the structures can maintain its strength and prevent deformation, which will increase the lifetime of unsealed pavements.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Taylor C. Stimpson ◽  
Daniel A. Osorio ◽  
Emily D. Cranston ◽  
Jose Moran-Mirabal

<p>To engineer tunable thin film materials, accurate measurement of their mechanical properties is crucial. However, characterizing the elastic modulus with current methods is particularly challenging for sub-micrometer thick films and hygroscopic materials because they are highly sensitive to environmental conditions and most methods require free-standing films which are difficult to prepare. In this work, we directly compared three buckling-based methods to determine the elastic moduli of supported thin films: 1) biaxial thermal shrinking, 2) uniaxial thermal shrinking, and 3) the mechanically compressed, strain-induced elastic buckling instability for mechanical measurements (SIEBIMM) method. Nanobiocomposite model films composed of cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) and polyethyleneimine (PEI) were assembled using layer-by-layer deposition to control composition and thickness. The three buckling-based methods yielded the same trends and comparable values for the elastic moduli of each CNC-PEI film composition (ranging from 15 – 44 GPa, depending on film composition). This suggests that the methods are similarly effective for the quantification of thin film mechanical properties. Increasing the CNC content in the films statistically increased the modulus, however, increasing the PEI content did not lead to significant changes. The standard deviation of elastic moduli determined from SIEBIMM was 2-4 times larger than for thermal shrinking, likely due to extensive cracking and partial film delamination. In light of these results, biaxial thermal shrinking is recommended as the method of choice because it affords the simplest implementation and analysis and is the least sensitive to small deviations in the input parameter values, such as film thickness or substrate modulus.</p>


Micromachines ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (12) ◽  
pp. 1447
Author(s):  
Madalina Simona Baltatu ◽  
Andrei Victor Sandu ◽  
Marcin Nabialek ◽  
Petrica Vizureanu ◽  
Gabriela Ciobanu

Over the last decade, researchers have been concerned with improving metallic biomaterials with proper and suitable properties for the human body. Ti-based alloys are widely used in the medical field for their good mechanical properties, corrosion resistance and biocompatibility. The TiMoZrTa system (TMZT) evidenced adequate mechanical properties, was closer to the human bone, and had a good biocompatibility. In order to highlight the osseointegration of the implants, a layer of hydroxyapatite (HA) was deposited using a biomimetic method, which simulates the natural growth of the bone. The coatings were examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), micro indentation tests and contact angle. The data obtained show that the layer deposited on TiMoZrTa (TMZT) support is hydroxyapatite. Modifying the surface of titanium alloys represents a viable solution for increasing the osseointegration of materials used as implants. The studied coatings demonstrate a positive potential for use as dental and orthopedic implants.


Materials ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (18) ◽  
pp. 4176
Author(s):  
Shibo Zhou ◽  
Xiongjiangchuan He ◽  
Peng Peng ◽  
Tingting Liu ◽  
Guangmin Sheng ◽  
...  

The effect of Mn on the microstructure and mechanical properties of as-extruded Mg-0.5Sr alloy were discussed in this work. The results showed that high Mn alloying (2 wt.%) could significantly improve the mechanical properties of the alloys, namely, the tensile and compressive yield strength. The grain size of as-extruded Mg-0.5Sr alloys significantly was refined from 2.78 μm to 1.15 μm due to the pinning effect by fine α-Mn precipitates during the extrusion. Moreover, it also showed that the tensile yield strength and the compressive yield strength of Mg-0.5Sr-2Mn alloy were 32 and 40 percent age higher than those of Mg-0.5Sr alloy, respectively. Moreover, the strain hardening behaviors of the Mg-0.5Sr-2Mn alloy were discussed, which proved that a large number of small grains and texture have an important role in improving mechanical properties.


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