A bulge testing system capable of applying static and dynamic loads to thin film membranes is described. The bulge tester consists of a sealed cavity, filled with a fluid, bounded on the bottom by a circular stainless steel diaphragm and on the top by the thin film membrane of interest. An actuator is used to apply either a static or a periodic force to the stainless steel diaphragm. The force is transmitted through the water to the thin film membrane. This facility provides for both accelerated lifetime testing and simulated service environment testing. The thin film membranes tested are composite stacks consisting of thin films of silicon, glass, metallic electrodes, and lead-zirconate-titanate. Pressure and deflection of a membrane are acquired simultaneously during loading. An image capture system coupled with an interferometer provides the means to capture interferograms of deflected membranes during both static and dynamic testing conditions. Images are then postprocessed to construct deflection versus pressure relationships, which can be used to extract materials’ properties. Accelerated lifetime testing is performed by subjecting the thin film membranes to cyclic loading at strain levels 45%–90% of the static failure strains. In simulated service environment testing thin film membranes are subjected to cyclic loading over a range of frequencies. For a given applied force, as the resonant frequency is approached the dynamic behavior of the thin film structures vary significantly from that observed for static loading. At resonance the deflection of a thin film membrane is almost three times that of a statically deflected membrane subjected to the same applied force.
usA MEMS test structure capable of measuring friction between polysilicon surfaces under a variety of test conditions has been refined from previous designs. The device is applied here to measuring friction coefficients of polysilicon surfaces under different environmental, loading, and surface conditions. Two methods for qualitatively comparing friction coefilcients (p.) using the device are presented. Samples that have been coated with a self-assembled monolayer of the lubricating film perfluorinated-decyltrichlorosilane (PFTS) have a coefficient of fiction that is approximately one-half that of samples dried using super-critical COZ (SCCOZ) drying. Qualitative results indicate that p is independent of normal pressure. Wear is shown to increase p for both supercritically dried samples and PFTS coated samples, though the mechanisms appear to be different. Super critically dried surfaces appear to degrade continuously with increased wear cycles, while PFTS coated samples reach a steady state friction value after about 104cycles.
Bulk micromachined membranes containing PZT thin films deposited via sol-gel processing have been tested for fatigue and fracture using a dynamic bulge testing apparatus. These membranes, consisting of silicon, titanium, platinum, PZT, and gold, were pressurized monotonically until failure to determine an average failure pressure and then cyclically pressurized to examine fatigue behavior. Membranes containing PZT show significant degradation of strength as compared to membranes of just silicon or the metallic layers. This is discussed in terms of the residual stresses and defects present in the PZT thin film due to thermal processing. Fractography of the failed membranes shows that delamination does occur at the metal-silicon interface during both types of loading, suggesting both through- thickness and interfacial cracking are possible failure mechanisms in this system.
Piezoelectric films for a MEMS microengine have been deposited using solution deposition routines onto platinized silicon wafers. These films are used as membranes above a bulk micromachined cavity. A dynamic bulge tester and interferometer were used to characterize the deformation of the films when pressurized. The mechanical strain at failure, as well as the fatigue behavior, have been characterized. Membranes between 300 and 500 nm thick have been shown to sustain mechanical fatigue damage over approximately 10 million cycles at strains of 30% of the monotonic failure strain. Defects in the films due to growth and thermal stresses during processing, and their role in membrane failure, are identified. Crack growth is demonstrated in these films by compliance measurements during fatigue testing, and interfacial failure is identified between the PZT and Pt layers.
Piezoelectric films are attractive materials for use in microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) due to their ability to act as both sensors and actuators. One of the primary modes of deformation is the deflection of lead zirconate titantate (PZT) beams and membranes, where the adhesion of the film is critical for the reliability of the device. Thin films of PZT between 250 and 750 nm have been grown via solution deposition routes onto platinized silicon substrates. The films have been tested using nanoindentation techniques. Two failure mechanism in these films have been observed Indentation induced delamination at the PZT-Pt interface occurs after the indenter tip is removed from the film when loads between 1 and 10 mN are applied to the sample, and at large loads (>75 mN) failure can be generated between the underlying oxide film and the silicon substrate while the tip is still engaged with the sample. Since each of these failure modes has a different mechanics solution, the results are compared to determine adhesion energy of the films. Fracture around the delaminated regions has been examined using scanning probe and electron microscopy. Freestanding PZT membranes above micromachined cavities have been mechanically deformed to examine the mechanical response and failure modes in these structures. The adhesion of the PZT improves with increased percent crystallization due to the introduction of residual tensile stresses. Processing, mechanical properties, and failure modes in these devices will be discussed.
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