Nanomechanical and nanotribological characterization of microelectromechanical system

Investigations of the mechanical and tribological properties of microelectromechanical system (MEMS) components on nanoscale can provide insights into failure mechanism of material. The main goal of this paper is focused on the mechanical and tribological characterizations of MEMS mechanical components in order to improve their reliability design. The mechanical properties of interests are stiffness, modulus of elasticity, stress, strain. Dynamical investigations are performed to analyze the resonant frequency response, velocity and amplitude of oscillations of electrostatically actuated microcomponents and to estimate the quality factor. Finite element analysis is used to validate the experimental results of mechanical properties and to simulate the dynamical behaviour of investigated microcomponents. Tribological investigations are developed to estimate the stiction and friction. Testing and the individual characterization of MEMS materials and structures, performed using advanced equipments such as atomic force microscope and optical vibrometer analyzer are presented.