Micromechanical Testing of Electroplated Gold Alloy Films using Theta-Like Specimens

Published

July 2, 2015

Author(s)

Mark McLean, William A. Osborn, Oliver Boomhower, Christopher Keimel, Rebecca Kirkpatrick, Frank W. DelRio

Abstract

Micromechanical testing of electroplated gold alloy films has been conducted using the theta specimen geometry. Specimens were formed by a standard combination of photolithography, electroplating, and deep reactive ion etching. Testing was performed using an instrumented indenter and the results interpreted using a finite element model with a Ramberg-Osgood constitutive law to extract both elastic and plastic material properties. The results of the tests were highly repeatable and appear to be sensitive to variations in both sample dimensions and material properties. These qualities suggest that the testing methodology may have significant value as a quality control technique in the fabrication of metal microelectromechanical systems.

Citation

MRS Communications

Volume

5

Issue

3

Pub Type

Journals

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DOI Link

Citation

McLean, M. , Osborn, W. , Boomhower, O. , Keimel, C. , Kirkpatrick, R. and DelRio, F. (2015), Micromechanical Testing of Electroplated Gold Alloy Films using Theta-Like Specimens, MRS Communications, [online], https://doi.org/10.1557/mrc.2015.48 (Accessed April 23, 2024)