Nanomechanical Material Size Effects Using an In-Situ, On-Chip Test Platform

使用原位、片上测试平台的纳米机械材料尺寸效应在小尺度下精确测量材料强度对于设计和制造可靠的纳米尺度器件至关重要。 许多纳米级材料的强度统计表示需要在实际使用的平台上执行大量高精度、可重复的强度测试。 该项目的目标是不仅允许大量精确的小规模强度测量，而且还可以推进对尺寸相关的强度影响的理解，在试样尺寸下降到纳米级。 为了实现这一目标，我们将扩展片上微/纳米级测试平台的功能，允许通过原位扫描电子显微镜（SEM）观察能力快速测试各种材料的大量样品。 这将是一个由卡内基梅隆大学（CMU）领导的合作项目，与桑迪亚国家实验室（SNL）和国家标准与技术研究所（NIST）合作。 该项目将建立在CMU和SNL目前的研究基础上，由Sandia支持，用于初始测试平台开发。 此外，该项目将利用位于阿尔伯克基桑迪亚的独特制造设施。 PI将与NIST研究人员合作，他们正在开发互补的测试方法和独特的局部应变测量技术。 这项研究的学术价值在于其独特的纳米尺度效应研究，这将量化和提供对尺寸依赖强度的基本理解。 再加上NIST提供的原位SEM观察和应力映射技术，拟议的研究将以迄今为止尚未实现的方式探索纳米材料强度的性质。 它还将首次为设计微/纳米级组件提供基本基础，充分利用材料强度的统计性质。 拟议研究的最大影响将是开发和应用一个精确校准的测试平台，用于现场观察和测试几乎任何可以以薄膜形式沉积在多晶硅上的材料的大量样本。 尽管是相当大的研究工作的主题，微/纳米级拉伸测试技术尚未开发，允许大量试样的高精度测试。 这将是微机电系统（MEMS）和微/纳米材料测试领域的一个突破，影响新的微/纳米级产品的开发。

Nanomechanical Material Size Effects Using an In-Situ, On-Chip Test PlatformAccurate measurement of material strength at small scales is of critical importance in the design and manufacture of reliable nano-scale devices. Statistical representations of strength for many nano-scale materials require large numbers of high-precision, repeatable strength tests executed on a platform that is practical to use. The objective of this project is to not only allow large numbers of accurate small-scale strength measurements, but to also advance the understanding of size-related strength effects in specimen sizes down to the nanoscale. To achieve this goal, we will extend the capabilities of an on-chip micro/nanoscale testing platform, allowing the rapid testing of large numbers of specimens of a variety of materials with the capability of in-situ scanning electron microscope (SEM) observation. This will be a collaborative project led by Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), partnering with Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). This project will build upon current research at CMU and SNL, supported by Sandia, for initial test platform development. Furthermore, this project will leverage access to unique fabrication facilities located at Sandia, Albuquerque. The PIs will collaborate with NIST researchers who are developing complementary testing approaches and unique localized strain measurement techniques. The intellectual merit of this research lies in its unique study of nanoscale size effects, which will quantify and provide a fundamental understanding of size-dependent strengths. Coupled with in-situ SEM observation and stress mapping techniques available at NIST, the proposed research will explore the nature of nanoscale material strengths in a way that has not been achieved to date. It will also offer, for the first time, a fundamental basis for designing micro/nanoscale components, fully exploiting the statistical nature of material strengths. The greatest broader impact of the proposed research will be its development and application of a precision-calibrated testing platform for in-situ observation and testing of large numbers of specimens of nearly any material that can be deposited on polysilicon in thin film form. Despite being the subject of considerable research effort, micro/nanoscale tensile testing techniques have not been developed that allow the high-precision testing of large numbers of specimens. This will be a breakthrough in the microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) and micro/nanoscale materials testing communities, impacting the development of new micro/nano-scale products.