Digital Commons Network^™

Characterization Of Mechanical Properties At The Micro/Nano Scale: Stiction Failure Of Mems, High-Frequency Michelson Interferometry And Carbon Nanofibers, Arash Kheyraddini Mousavi

Mechanical Engineering ETDs

Different forces scale differently with decreasing length scales. Van der Waals and surface tension are generally ignored at the macro scale, but can become dominant at the micro and nano scales. This fact, combined with the considerable compliance and large surface areas of micro and nano devices, can leads to adhesion in MicroElectroMechanical Systems (MEMS) and NanoElectroMechanical Systems (NEMS) - a.k.a. stiction-failure. The adhesive forces between MEMS devices leading to stiction failure are characterized in this dissertation analytically and experimentally. Specifically, the adhesion energy of poly-Si μcantilevers are determined experimentally through Mode II and mixed Mode I&II crack propagation experiments. …