Abstract
This paper presents the experimental characterization of the creep effect in electrostatically actuated gold microstructures. The tested specimens follow the typical configuration of the microbridge based radio frequency microelectromechanical systems switches and varactors. Initially, the plastic creep strain accumulation with time is measured for the specimens with different geometric dimensions and at different actuation voltages and temperatures. To avoid the size and cumulative heating effects, three specimens with the same geometric dimensions, actuation voltages and constant temperatures are tested. The test results allowed decoupling the permanent plastic strains due to the creep effect and reversible anelastic strains due to the viscoelastic behavior. The pull-in voltage and natural frequency values measured before and after the creep tests are compared, revealing the mechanical stiffness decrease caused by creep.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Allameh SM (2003) An introduction to mechanical-properties-related issues in MEMS structures. J Mate Sci 38(20):4115–4123
Bergers LIJC, Hoefnagels JPM, Delhey NKR, Geers MGD (2011) Measuring time-dependent deformations in metallic MEMS. Microelectron Reliab 51(6):1054–1059
Brusa E, De Pasquale G, Somà A (2013) Experimental characterization of electro–thermo–mechanical coupling in gold RF microswitches. J Microelectromechanical Syst 22(4):919–929
Cho HS, Hemker KJ, Lian K, Goettert J (2002) Tensile, creep and fatigue properties of LIGA nickel structures. In: Micro electro mechanical systems, pp 439–442
De Pasquale G, Somà A (2009) Numerical and experimental validation of out-of-plane resonance closed formulas for MEMS suspended plates with square holes. Microsyst Technol 15(3):391–400
De Pasquale G, Somà A (2010) Dynamic identification of electrostatically actuated MEMS in the frequency domain. Mech Syst Signal Process 24(6):1621–1633
De Pasquale G, Somà A (2011) MEMS mechanical fatigue: effect of mean stress on gold microbeams. J Microelectromechanical Syst 20(4):1054–1063
Douglass MR (1998) Lifetime estimates and unique failure mechanisms of the digital micromirror device (DMD). In: Reliability physics symposium proceedings, pp 9–16
Hsu HH, Koslowski M, Peroulis D (2011) An experimental and theoretical investigation of creep in ultrafine crystalline nickel RF-MEMS devices. IEEE Trans Microw Theory Tech 59(10):2655–2664
Huang Y, Vasan ASS, Doraiswami R, Osterman M, Pecht M (2012) MEMS reliability review. IEEE Trans Device Mater Reliab 12(2):482–493
Jain A, Palit S, Alam MA (2012) A physics-based predictive modeling framework for dielectric charging and creep in RF MEMS capacitive switches and varactors. J Microelectromechanical Syst 21(2):420–430
Kal S, Bagolini A, Margesin B, Zen M (2006) Stress and resistivity analysis of electrodeposited gold films for MEMS application. Microelectron J 37(11):1329–1334
Langfelder G, Longoni A, Zaraga F, Corigliano A, Ghisi A, Merassi A (2009) A new on-chip test structure for real time fatigue analysis in polysilicon MEMS. Microelectron Reliab 49(2):120–126
Li G, Zhang W, Li P, Sang S, Hu J, Chen X (2013) Investigation of charge injection and relaxation in multilayer dielectric stacks for capacitive RF MEMS switch application. IEEE Trans Electron Devices 60(7):2379–2387
Margesin B, Bagolini A, Guarnieri V, Giacomozzi F, Faes A, Pal R, Decarli M (2003). Stress characterization of electroplated gold layers for low temperature surface micromachining. In: Design, test, integration and packaging of MEMS/MOEMS, pp 402–405
Modlinski R, Witvrouw A, Ratchev P, Puers R, den Toonder JMJ, De Wolf I (2004) Creep characterization of Al alloy thin films for use in MEMS applications. Microelectron Eng 76(1):272–278
Modlinski R, Ratchev P, Witvrouw A, Puers R, De Wolf I (2005) Creep-resistant aluminum alloys for use in MEMS. J Micromechanics Microengineering 15(7):S165
Rebeiz GM (2003) RF MEMS: theory, design and technology. Wiley, Hoboken
Scott S, Katz J, Sadeghi F, Peroulis D (2013) Highly reliable MEMS temperature sensors for 275 °C applications—part 2: creep and cycling performance. J Microelectromechanical Syst 22(1):236–243
Somà A, De Pasquale G (2009) MEMS mechanical fatigue: experimental results on gold microbeams. J Microelectromechanical Syst 18(4):828–835
Subhash G, Corwin AD, de Boer MP (2011) Evolution of wear characteristics and frictional behavior in MEMS devices. Tribol Lett 41(1):177–189
Tuck K, Jungen A, Geisberger A, Ellis M, Skidmore G (2005) A study of creep in polysilicon MEMS devices. J Eng Mater Technol 127(1):90–96
van Gils M, Bielen J, McDonald G (2007). Evaluation of creep in RF MEMS devices. In: Thermal, mechanical and multi-physics simulation experiments in microelectronics and micro-systems, pp 1–6
Vickers-Kirby DJ, Kubena RL, Stratton FP, Joyce RJ, Chang DT, Kim J (2000) Anelastic creep phenomena in thin metal plated cantilevers for MEMS. In: MRS proceedings, vol 657. pp EE2-5
Wetzig K (2003) Metal based thin films for electronics. Wiley-VCH, Weinheim
Yan X, Brown WL, Li Y, Papapolymerou J, Palego C, Hwang J, Vinci RP (2009) Anelastic stress relaxation in gold films and its impact on restoring forces in MEMS devices. J Microelectromechanical Syst 18(3):570–576
Younis MI, Jordy D, Pitarresi JM (2007) Computationally efficient approaches to characterize the dynamic response of microstructures under mechanical shock. J Microelectromechanical Syst 16(3):628–638
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Somà, A., Saleem, M.M. & de Pasquale, G. Effect of creep in RF MEMS static and dynamic behavior. Microsyst Technol 22, 1067–1078 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00542-015-2469-8
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00542-015-2469-8