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Investigation upon Mechanical Properties of Thin Film Silicon Under Cryogenic Temperature

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 February 2011

Yi Zhao  and
Xin Zhang
Yi Zhao
Affiliation:
Laboratory of Microsystems Technology, Department of Manufacturing Engineering, Boston University, 15 Saint Mary's Street, Boston, MA 02215, USA
Xin Zhang
Affiliation:
Laboratory of Microsystems Technology, Department of Manufacturing Engineering, Boston University, 15 Saint Mary's Street, Boston, MA 02215, USA
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Abstract

Thin film silicon material has an extensive application in cooling satellite instrumentation under cryogenic environment. The performance and reliability of the cooling system heavily depends on mechanical behavior of the thin films. In this paper, we built an experimental setup and used compressive gas to actuate a silicon thin film under both room temperature and cryogenic temperature. The elastic modulus was derived from the film's deflection using laser Michelson interferometer. Stress distribution was obtained using Micro Raman spectroscopy. It was found that Young's modulus derived from the deflection increases with decreasing temperature. Compressive stress concentrated at edge centers of the film and tensile stress occurred at the center. There is a good match between the theoretical predications and experimental observations.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 851: Symposium NN – Materials for Space Applications , 2004 , NN5.6
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2005

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References

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