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Micromechanical testing of electroplated gold alloy films using theta-like specimens

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Abstract

Micromechanical testing of electroplated gold alloy films has been conducted using theta-like specimens. Specimens were formed by a standard combination of photolithography, electroplating, and deep reactive ion etching. Testing was performed using an instrumented indenter and the results interpreted using a finite-element model with a Ramberg-Osgood constitutive law to extract elastic and plastic material properties. The observed results were highly repeatable and appear to be sensitive to variations in both sample dimensions and material properties. These qualities suggest that the testing methodology may have significant value as a quality control technique in the fabrication of metal micro-electromechanical systems.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge Drs Robert F. Cook, Richard S. Gates, and Brian G. Bush from the National Institute of Standards and Technology for their contributions to this work. Some research was performed at the NIST Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology (CNST).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Materials Measurement Science Division, Material Measurement Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland, 20899, USA

    Mark J. McLean, William A. Osborn & Rebecca Kirkpatrick

  2. Micro and Nano Structures Technologies Group, GE Global Research, Niskayuna, New York, 12309, USA

    Oliver Boomhower & Christopher Keimel

  3. Applied Chemicals and Materials Division, Material Measurement Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, Colorado, 80305, USA

    Frank W. DelRio

Authors
  1. Mark J. McLean
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  2. William A. Osborn
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  3. Rebecca Kirkpatrick
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  4. Oliver Boomhower
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  5. Christopher Keimel
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  6. Frank W. DelRio
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mark J. McLean.

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For supplementary material for this article, please visit http://dx.doi.org/10.1557/mrc.2015.48

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McLean, M.J., Osborn, W.A., Kirkpatrick, R. et al. Micromechanical testing of electroplated gold alloy films using theta-like specimens. MRS Communications 5, 503–506 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1557/mrc.2015.48

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1557/mrc.2015.48

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