Abstract
In this work, the authors report the mechanical properties of three emerging materials in thin film form: single crystal silicon carbide (3C-SiC), ultrananocrystalline diamond, and hydrogen-free tetrahedral amorphous carbon. The materials are being employed in micro- and nanoelectromechanical systems. Several reports addressed some of the mechanical properties of these materials but they are based in different experimental approaches. Here, they use a single testing method, the membrane deflection experiment, to compare these materials' Young's moduli, characteristic strengths, fracture toughnesses, and theoretical strengths. Furthermore, they analyze the applicability of Weibull theory [Proc. Royal Swedish Inst. Eng. Res. 153, 1 (1939); ASME J. Appl. Mech. 18, 293 (1951)] in the prediction of these materials' failure and document the volume-or surface-initiated failure modes by fractographic analysis. The findings are of particular relevance to the selection of micro- and nanoelectromechanical systems materials for various applications of interest.
Original language | English (US) |
---|---|
Article number | 073111 |
Journal | Applied Physics Letters |
Volume | 89 |
Issue number | 7 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 2006 |
Funding
The work at Northwestern University was supported in part by the NSF-Nano Science Interdisciplinary Research Teams (NIRT) under Award No. CMS-00304472.
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Physics and Astronomy (miscellaneous)