Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Nano And Microscale Adhesion Energy Measurement For Au-Au Contacts In Microswitch Structures, Nima Rahbar, Zong Zong, Yifang Cao, Wole Soboyejo

Nima Rahbar

This paper presents a study of adhesion energies that are relevant to Au–Au microswitch contacts at the nano- and micronscales. Adhesionmeasurements are obtained from cantilevered Aumicroelectromechanical system(MEMS)microswitch structures with varying lengths. Scanning electron microscopymeasurements of the microbeam profiles are combined with fracture mechanics model for the estimation of the adhesion energy. Adhesion contact and pull-off experiments are combined with theoretical models for the extraction of adhesion energies associated with Au-coated atomic force microscopy tips and Aumicroswitch substrates. Finite element method simulation was also performed to account for crack-tip shielding contributions from asperities in contact between Au–Au microscale cantilevered MEMS structure. …