A microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) force-displacement transducer for sub-5 nm nanoindentation and adhesion measurements.

Autor: Zhang Y; Department of Mechanical Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77840, USA., Oh Y; Hysitron, Inc., 9625 West 76th Street, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55344, USA., Stauffer D; Hysitron, Inc., 9625 West 76th Street, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55344, USA., Polycarpou AA; Department of Mechanical Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77840, USA.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: The Review of scientific instruments [Rev Sci Instrum] 2018 Apr; Vol. 89 (4), pp. 045109.
DOI: 10.1063/1.5021046
Abstrakt: We present a highly sensitive force-displacement transducer capable of performing ultra-shallow nanoindentation and adhesion measurements. The transducer utilizes electrostatic actuation and capacitive sensing combined with microelectromechanical fabrication technologies. Air indentation experiments report a root-mean-square (RMS) force resolution of 1.8 nN and an RMS displacement resolution of 0.019 nm. Nanoindentation experiments on a standard fused quartz sample report a practical RMS force resolution of 5 nN and an RMS displacement resolution of 0.05 nm at sub-10 nm indentation depths, indicating that the system has a very low system noise for indentation experiments. The high sensitivity and low noise enables the transducer to obtain high-resolution nanoindentation data at sub-5 nm contact depths. The sensitive force transducer is used to successfully perform nanoindentation measurements on a 14 nm thin film. Adhesion measurements were also performed, clearly capturing the pull-on and pull-off forces during approach and separation of two contacting surfaces.
Databáze: MEDLINE