In-Situ Raman Spectroscopic Surface Stress Measurement of Single Crystal Silicon Microstructures Subjected to Uniaxial Tensile Loading

This paper describes Raman spectroscopic stress analysis of single crystal silicon (SCS) microstructures for development of reliability evaluation technique utilized for silicon-based microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). An in-house tensile tester was employed to apply a uniaxial tensile stress to the SCS specimen with a 270 nm-height, 4 mum-square SCS boss in the gauge section. Raman spectra on the boss were obtained under a constant tensile stress applied. The stress distribution obtained from two-curve fitting of Raman spectrum was in good agreement with that estimated by finite element analysis (FEA). The Raman spectroscopic stress evaluation method would be effective for nondestructive reliability testing for silicon-MEMS.