Bend testing of silicon microcantilevers from 21A degrees C to 770A degrees C

Journal article

The measurement of mechanical properties at the microscale is of interest across a wide range of engineering applications. Much recent work has demonstrated that micropillar compression can be used to measure changes in flow properties at temperatures up to 600°C. In this work, we demonstrate that an alternative microscale bend testing geometry can be used to measure elastic, plastic, and fracture behavior up to 770°C in silicon. We measure a Young’s modulus value of 130 GPa at room temperature, which is seen to drop with increasing temperature to ≈125 GPa. Below 500°C, no failure is seen up to elastic strains of 3%. At 530°C, the microcantilever fractures in a brittle fashion. At temperatures of 600°C and above plastic deformation is seen before brittle fracture. The yield stresses at these temperatures are in good agreement with literature values measured using micropillar compression.

Authors: Armstrong, D; Tarleton, E

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Springer US
• Journal: JOM
• Volume: 67
• Issue: 12
• Pages: 2914-2920
• Publication date: 2015-12-01
• DOI: 10.1007/s11837-015-1618-y
• EISSN: 1543-1851
• ISSN: 1047-4838