Title :
Specimen size effect on tensile strength of surface micromachined polycrystalline silicon thin films
Author :
Tsuchiya, Toshiyuki ; Tabata, Osamu ; Sakata, Jiro ; Taga, Yasunori
Author_Institution :
Toyota Central Res. & Dev. Labs. Inc., Aichi, Japan
Abstract :
A new tensile tester using electrostatic force grip was developed to evaluate the tensile strength and the reliability of thin film materials. The tester was constructed in a SEM chamber for in-situ observation, and was applied for tensile testing of polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si) thin films with dimensions of 30-300 μm long, 2-5 μm wide and 2 μm thick. It was found that the mean tensile strength is 2.0-2.7 GPa depending on the length of the specimens, irrespective of the specimen width. Statistical analysis of these size effects on the tensile strength predicted that the location of the fracture origin is on the edge of the specimen, which is identified by the SEM observation of the fracture surface of the thin films
Keywords :
fracture toughness testing; mechanical strength; mechanical variables measurement; scanning electron microscopy; semiconductor thin films; statistical analysis; tensile strength; tensile testing; test equipment; 2 mum; 2 to 2.7 GPa; 2 to 5 mum; 30 to 300 mum; SEM chamber; Si; Si polycrystalline thin films; Si surface micromachined films; edge; electrostatic force grip; fracture surface; in-situ observation; micromechanical devices; reliability; size effects; statistical analysis; tensile strength; tensile tester; Electrostatics; Materials testing; Semiconductor thin films; Silicon; Statistical analysis; Stress measurement; Surface cracks; Tensile stress; Thin film devices; Transistors;
Conference_Titel :
Micro Electro Mechanical Systems, 1997. MEMS '97, Proceedings, IEEE., Tenth Annual International Workshop on
Conference_Location :
Nagoya
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-3744-1
DOI :
10.1109/MEMSYS.1997.581921
