Size Effect and Geometrical Effect of Solids in Micro-Indentation Test

Micro-indentation tests at scales of the order of sub-micron show that the measured hardness increases strongly with decreasing indent depth or indent size, which is frequently referred to as the size effect. At the same time, at micron or sub-micron scale, another effect, which is referred to as the geometrical size effects such as crystal grain size effect, thin film thickness effect, etc., also influences the measured material hardness. However, the trends are at odds with the size-independence implied by the conventional elastic-plastic theory. In the present research, the strain gradient plasticity theory (Fleck and Hutchinson) is used to model the composition effects (size effect and geometrical effect) for polycrystal material and metal thin film/ceramic substrate systems when materials undergo micro-indenting. The phenomena of the "pile-up" and "sink-in" appeared in the indentation test for the polycrystal materials are also discussed. Meanwhile, the micro-indentation experiments for the polycrystal Al and for the Ti/Si_3N_4 thin film/substrate system are carried out. By comparing the theoretical predictions with experimental measurements, the values and the variation trends of the micro-scale parameter included in the strain gradient plasticity theory are predicted.

Micro-systems for Optical Protein-Chip

Protein-Chip as micro-assays for the determination of protein interaction, the analysis, the identification and the purification of proteins has large potential applications. The Optical Protein-Chip is able to detect the multi-interaction of proteins and multi-bio-activities of molecules directly and simultaneously with no labeling. The chip is a small matrix on solid substrate containing multi-micro-area prepared by microfabrication with photolithography or soft lithography for surface patterning, and processed with surface modification which includes the physical, chemical, and bio-chemical modifications, etc. The ligand immobilization, such as protein immobilization, especially the oriented immobilization with low steric hindrance and high bio-specific binding activity between ligand and receptor is used to form a sensing surface. Each area of the pattern is corresponding to only one bioactivity. The interval between the areas is non-bioactive and optically extinctive. The affinity between proteins is used to realize non-labeling microassays for the determination of protein identification and protein interaction. The sampling of the chip is non-disturbing, performed with imaging ellipsometry and image processing on a database of proteins.

Characterization of the Fracture Work for Ductile Film Undergoing the Micro-Scratch

The interface adhesion strength (or interface toughness) of a thin film/substrate system is often assessed by the micro-scratch test. For a brittle film material, the interface adhesion strength is easily obtained through measuring the scratch driving forces. However, to measure the interface adhesion strength (or interface toughness) for a metal thin film material (the ductile material) by the microscratch test is very difficult, because intense plastic deformation is involved and the problem is a three-dimensional elastic-plastic one. In the present research, using a double-cohesive zone model, the failure characteristics of the thin film/substrate system can be described and further simulated. For a steady-state scratching process, a three-dimensional elastic-plastic finite element method based on the double cohesive zone model is developed and adopted, and the steady-state fracture work of the total system is calculated. The parameter relations between the horizontal driving forces (or energy release rate of the scratching process) and the separation strength of thin film/substrate interface, and the material shear strength, as well as the material parameters are developed. Furthermore, a scratch experiment for the Al/Si film/substrate system is carried out and the failure mechanisms are explored. Finally, the prediction results are applied to a scratch experiment for the Pt/NiO material system given in the literature.

Statistical Simulation of Rarefied Gas Flows in Micro-Channels

Rarefied gas flows through micro-channels are simulated using particle approaches, named as the information preservation (IP) method and the direct simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) method. In simulating the low speed flows in long micro-channels the DSMC method encounters the problem of large sample size demand and the difficulty of regulating boundary conditions at the inlet and outlet. Some important computational issues in the calculation of long micro-channel flows by using the IP method, such as the use the conservative form of the mass conservation equation to guarantee the adjustment of the inlet and outlet boundary conditions and the super-relaxation scheme to accelerate the convergence process, are addressed. Stream-wise pressure distributions and mass fluxes through micro-channels given by the IP method agree well with experimental data measured in long micro-channels by Pong et al. (with a height to length ratio of 1.2:3000), Shih et al. (l.2:4800), Arkilic et al. and Arkilic (l.3:7500), respectively. The famous Knudsen minimum of normalized mass flux is observed in IP and DSMC calculations of a short micro-channel over the entire flow regime from continuum to free molecular, whereas the slip Navier-Stokes solution fails to predict it.

A Constrained Particle Dynamics for Continuum-Particle Hybrid Method in Micro- and Nano-Fluidics

A hybrid method of continuum and particle dynamics is developed for micro- and nano-fluidics, where fluids are described by a molecular dynamics (MD) in one domain and by the Navier-Stokes (NS) equations in another domain. In order to ensure the continuity of momentum flux, the continuum and molecular dynamics in the overlap domain are coupled through a constrained particle dynamics. The constrained particle dynamics is constructed with a virtual damping force and a virtual added mass force. The sudden-start Couette flows with either non-slip or slip boundary condition are used to test the hybrid method. It is shown that the results obtained are quantitatively in agreement with the analytical solutions under the non-slip boundary conditions and the full MD simulations under the slip boundary conditions.

Micro-scale Mechanics of the Surface-Nanocrystalline Al-Alloy Material

Based on the microscopic observations and measurements, the mechanical behavior of the surface-nanocrystallized Al-alloy material at microscale is investigated experimentally and theoretically. In the experimental research, the compressive stress-strain curves and the hardness depth curves are measured. In the theoretical simulation, based on the material microstructure characteristics and the experimental features of the compression and indentation, the microstructure cell models are developed and the strain gradient plasticity theory is adopted. The material compressive stress-strain curves and the hardness depth curves-are predicted and simulated. Through comparison of the experimental results with the simulation results, the material and model parameters are determined.

Trans-Scale Mechanics: Looking For The Missing Links Between Continuum And Micro/Nanoscopic Reality

Problems involving coupled multiple space and time scales offer a real challenge for conventional frameworks of either particle or continuum mechanics. In this paper, four cases studies (shear band formation in bulk metallic glasses, spallation resulting from stress wave, interaction between a probe tip and sample, the simulation of nanoindentation with molecular statistical thermodynamics) are provided to illustrate the three levels of trans-scale problems (problems due to various physical mechanisms at macro-level, problems due to micro-structural evolution at macro/micro-level, problems due to the coupling of atoms/molecules and a finite size body at micro/nano-level) and their formulations. Accordingly, non-equilibrium statistical mechanics, coupled trans-scale equations and simultaneous solutions, and trans-scale algorithms based on atomic/molecular interaction are suggested as the three possible modes of trans-scale mechanics.

Tensile Tests Of Micro Anchors Anodically Bonded Between Pyrex Glass And Aluminum Thin Film Coated On Silicon Wafer

Micro anchor is a kind of typical structures in micro/nano electromechanical systems (MEMS/NEMS), and it can be made by anodic bonding process, with thin films of metal or alloy as an intermediate layer. At the relative low temperature and voltage, specimens with actually sized micro anchor structures were anodically bonded using Pyrex 7740 glass and patterned crystalline silicon chips coated with aluminum thin film with a thickness comprised between 50 nm and 230 nm. To evaluate the bonding quality, tensile pulling tests have been finished with newly designed flexible fixtures for these specimens. The experimental results exhibit that the bonding tensile strength increases with the bonding temperature and voltage, but it decreases with the increase of the thickness of Al intermediate layer. This kind of thickness effect of the intermediate layer was not mentioned in the literature on anodic bonding. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Pull-In Instability Of Micro-Switch Actuators: Model Review

The existing three widely used pull-in theoretical models (i.e., one-dimensional lumped model, linear supposition model and planar model) are compared with the nonlinear beam mode in this paper by considering both cantilever and fixed-fixed type micro and nano-switches. It is found that the error of the pull-in parameters between one-dimensional lumped model and the nonlinear beam model is large because the denominator of the electrostatic force is minimal when the electrostatic force is computed at the maximum deflection along the beam. Since both the linear superposition model and the slender planar model consider the variation of electrostatic force with the beam's deflection, these two models not only are of the same type but also own little error of the pull-in parameters with the nonlinear beam model, the error brought by these two models attributes to that the boundary conditions are not completely satisfied when computing the numerical integration of the deflection.

The Capillary Force In Micro- And Nano-Indentation With Different Indenter Shapes

The influence of the indenter shapes and various parameters on the magnitude of the capillary force is studied on the basis of models describing the wet adhesion of indenters and substrates joined by liquid bridges. In the former, we consider several shapes, such as conical, spherical and truncated conical one with a spherical end. In the latter, the effects of the contact angle, the radius of the wetting circle, the volume of the liquid bridge, the environmental humidity, the gap between the indenter and the substrate, the conical angle, the radius of the spherical indenter, the opening angle of the spherical end in the truncated conical indenter are included. The meniscus of the bridge is described using a circular approximation, which is reasonable under some conditions. Different dependences of the capillary force on the indenter shapes and the geometric parameters are observed. The results can be applicable to the micro- and nano-indentation experiments. It shows that the measured hardness is underestimated due to the effect of the capillary force. (c) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A Cip/Multi-Moment Finite Volume Method For Shallow Water Equations With Source Terms

A novel finite volume method has been presented to solve the shallow water equations. In addition to the volume-integrated average (VIA) for each mesh cell, the surface-integrated average (SIA) is also treated as the model variable and is independently predicted. The numerical reconstruction is conducted based on both the VIA and the SIA. Different approaches are used to update VIA and SIA separately. The SIA is updated by a semi-Lagrangian scheme in terms of the Riemann invariants of the shallow water equations, while the VIA is computed by a flux-based finite volume formulation and is thus exactly conserved. Numerical oscillation can be effectively avoided through the use of a non-oscillatory interpolation function. The numerical formulations for both SIA and VIA moments maintain exactly the balance between the fluxes and the source terms. 1D and 2D numerical formulations are validated with numerical experiments. Copyright (c) 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Effect of Surface Condition of Electrode on the Surface Melting of Material by Laser-Guided Micro-Arc Discharge

This paper studies the surface melting in the atmosphere by YAG laser-guided micro-arc discharge. In three kinds of surface conditions (free, oiled, and polyethylene covered), we try to control the diameter and the power density of discharge pit. It is found that the power density of 3 x 10(6) W/cm(2) of discharge pit on the oiled surface is moderate to form the melted layer thicker than that of the others, adapting to strengthen the surface of material, and the power density of 1.07 x 10(7) W/cm(2) of discharge pit on the polyethylene-covered surface is highest to form the deepest discharge pit among them, adapting to remove the material.

A moving-coil designed micro-mechanics tester with application on MEMS

A moving-coil designed micro-mechanics tester, named as MicroUTM (universal testing machine), is in-house developed in this paper for micro-mechanics tests. The main component is a moving coil suspended in a uniform magnetic field through a set of springs. When a current passes through the coil, the electromagnetic force is proportional to the magnitude of the current, so the load can easily be measured by the current. The displacement is measured using a capacitive sensor. The load is calibrated using a Sartorius BP211D analytical balance, with a resolution/range of 0.01 mg/80 g or 0.1 mg/210 g. The displacement is calibrated using a HEIDENHAIN CT-6002 length gauge with an accuracy of +/- 0.1 mu m. The calibration results show that the load range is +/- 1 N and the displacement range is +/- 300 mu m. The noise levels of the load and displacement are 50 mu N and 150 nm, respectively. The nonlinearity of the load is only 0.2%. Several in-plane load tests of the MEMS micro-cantilever are performed using this tester. Experimental results, with excellent repeatability, demonstrate the reliability of the load measurement as well as the flexible function of this tester.

Parameter-estimation of a spherical top inductively-coupled plasma source with global-model

Using spatially averaged global model, we succeed in obtaining some plasma parameters for a low pressure inductively coupled plasma source of our laboratory. As far as the global balance is concerned, the models can give reasonable results of the parameters, such as the global electron temperature and the ion impacting energy, etc. It is found that the ion flow is hardly affected by the neutral gas pressure. Finally, the magnetic effects are calculated by means of the method. The magnetic field can play an important role to increase plasma density and ion current.

Behavior of ar plasma formed in a high-density plasma source - an ecr reactor

In order to develop the ultra-large scale integration(ULSI), low pressure and high density plasma apparatus are required for etching and deposit of thin films. To understand critical parameters such as the pressure, temperature, electrostatic potential and energy distribution of ions impacting on the wafer, it is necessary to understand how these parameters are influenced by the power input and neutral gas pressure. In the present work, a 2-D hybrid electron fluid-particle ion model has been developed to simulate one of the high density plasma sources-an Electron Cyclotron Resonance (ECR) plasma system with various pressures and power inputs in a non-uniform magnetic field. By means of numerical simulation, the energy distributions of argon ion impacting on the wafer are obtained and the plasma density, electron temperature and plasma electrostatic potential are plotted in 3-D. It is concluded that the plasma density depends mainly on both the power input and neutral gas pressure. However, the plasma potential and electron temperature can hardly be affected by the power input, they seem to be primarily dependent on the neutral gas pressure. The comparison shows that the simulation results are qualitatively in good agreement with the experiment measurements.