Hostname: page-component-77c89778f8-m8s7h Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-18T16:17:39.722Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Effect of Thin Aluminum Coatings on Structural Damping of Silicon Microresonators

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 January 2011

Guruprasad Sosale ,
Sairam Prabhakar ,
Luc Frechette  and
Srikar Vengallatore
Guruprasad Sosale
Affiliation:
guruprasad.sosale@mcgill.ca, McGill University, Mechanical Engineering, Montreal, Canada
Sairam Prabhakar
Affiliation:
sairam.prabhakar@mail.mcgill.ca, McGill University, Mechanical Engineering, Montreal, Canada
Luc Frechette
Affiliation:
luc.frechette@usherbrooke.ca, Universite de Sherbrooke, Mechanical Engineering, Sherbrooke, Canada
Srikar Vengallatore
Affiliation:
srikar.vengallatore@scholarone.com, McGill University, Mechanical Engineering, Montreal, Canada
Get access

Abstract

Quantifying the effects of thin metallic coatings on the damping factors of micro- and nanomechanical resonators is important for the design of high-performance devices for sensing and communications. This study presents experimental results for the increase in damping caused by aluminum films coated on cantilevered single-crystal silicon beams. The monolithic silicon beams (100 to 125 microns thick) can operate at the ultimate limits of dissipation established by thermoelastic damping with quality factors ranging from 104 to 105. However, coating these beams with 60 to 100 nm of aluminum can increase the damping by factors of three to five. These results provide guidelines for designing composite micromechanical resonators, and establish the foundation of a new approach for accurate measurement of internal friction in substrate-bonded thin films.

Keywords

internal frictionmicroelectro-mechanical (MEMS)microstructure
Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 1222: Symposium DD – Microelectromechanical Systems — Materials and Devices III , 2009 , 1222-DD01-06
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1 Reid, S, Cagnoli, G, Crooks, DRM, Hough, J, Murray, P, Rowan, S, Fejer, MM, Route, R, Zappa, S, Physics Letters A351, 205 (2006)Google Scholar
2 Smith, C B, Wereley, N M, Smart Materials and Structures. 5, 540 (1996)Google Scholar
3 Nowick, A S and Berry, B S, Anelastic Relaxation in Crystalline Solids, Academic Press, New York (1972).Google Scholar
4 Prabhakar, S. and Vengallatore, S., J Micromech. Microeng, 17, 532 (2007)Google Scholar