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Fatigue crack growth in micro-machined single-crystal silicon

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 March 2011

Emily D. Renuart ,
Alissa M. Fitzgerald ,
Thomas W. Kenny  and
Reinhold H. Dauskardt
Emily D. Renuart
Affiliation:
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305
Alissa M. Fitzgerald
Affiliation:
Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305
Thomas W. Kenny
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305
Reinhold H. Dauskardt*
Affiliation:
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305
*
b)Address all correspondence to this author. e-mail: dauskardt@stanford.edu
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Abstract

Although crystalline silicon is not generally considered susceptible to fatigue crack growth, recent studies suggest that there may be fatigue processes in silicon micro-machined structures. In the present study, a micro-machined fracture specimen geometry was used to examine stable crack growth under fatigue loading. Crack length and loads were carefully monitored throughout the test to distinguish between environmentally assisted crack growth (stress corrosion) and mechanically induced fatigue-crack growth. Results revealed similar steplike crack extension versus time for the cyclic and monotonic tests. The fatigue crack-growth curve extracted from the crack extension data exhibited a nearly vertical slope with no evidence of accelerated crack-growth rates. Fracture surfaces for the monotonic and cyclic tests were similar, further suggesting that a true mechanical fatigue crack-growth mechanism did not occur. Explanations for the observed lack of fatigue crack growth are presented and discussed with respect to reported stress-life behavior.

Keywords

SiliconFatigueMicroelectrical mechanical (MEMS)
Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Materials Research , Volume 19 , Issue 9 , September 2004 , pp. 2635 - 2640
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2004

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