A specially designed microtensile apparatus capable of carrying out a series of tests on microscale thin films for microelectromechanical system (MEMS) applications at room temperature and at temperature up to 400 degrees C has been developed and tested, and is described here. Several MEMS-applicable thin films were measured with it, including thermally grown silicon dioxide, gold, and gold-vanadium. The silicon dioxide was tested at room temperature. Gold and gold-vanadium films were tested at room temperature and at 200 and 400 degrees C. Examples of these results are presented
In order to shed light on the role that grain boundaries and dislocations play in anelastic relaxation of thin films and small-scale structures, we measured the effective elastic moduli of 99.99% pure Al and Cu 10 m m diameter micro-wires in the as-received (drawn and slight tempered) and annealed states. Moduli were determined using microtensile tests at various strain rates (6.7x10-6s-1, 1.3x10-5s-1, 2.6x10-5s-1, 4.5x10-5s-1, 2.5x10-4s-1, 4.5x10-4s-1). Focused-ion beam scanning electron microscopy was used for imaging grain sizes. Results from the as-received wires are compared with the annealed wires to illustrate the effects of grain size and dislocation density on effective moduli, which closely relates to grain boundary sliding and dislocation motion, respectively. We conclude that microstructure is more significant than scale in inducing anelasticity in small-scale wires and, by extension, thin films.
We have studied the development of shear band structure in a Zr 57 Ti 5 Cu 20 Ni 8 Al 10 bulk metallic glass during deformation. In order to investigate the relationship between shear band development and serrated flow, we performed uniaxial compression tests in an environmental scanning electron microscope (ESEM). During the deformation, load-time data and surface images were simultaneously recorded. In the stress-time data, stress drops or "serrated flow" appear to correlate to new shear band formation. The majority of the shear bands we observed were at an angle of 45° with respect to the compression axis. In addition, we measured shear offset as a function of position along the shear band. We observed two different offset behaviors: Consistent offset along the length of a shear band, and offset that is localized into part of the band. The localized offset behavior could be evidence for dislocation-like displacement increments, or could be the result of a transition in the failure mode.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.