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Fatigue of LIGA Ni Micro-Electro-Mechanical System Thin Films

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Abstract

This article presents the results of an experimental study of the mechanisms of fatigue in 270-μm-thick LIGA (lithographic, galvanoformung, abformung) Ni micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) thin films with columnar microstructure. Stress-life behavior is compared with the previously reported data for LIGA Ni MEMS films and bulk Ni. The LIGA Ni thin films are shown to have comparable fatigue lives to bulk annealed Ni. The underlying mechanisms of fatigue crack growth are elucidated via scanning electron and focused ion beam (FIB) microscopy. Stress-driven recrystallization was revealed near the fatigue crack-tip using FIB microscopy. Microvoids were also found to form and coalesce in the recrystallized grains. This led to subsequent fatigue crack growth at the microscopic and macroscopic scales. The crack profiles revealed that fatigue crack growth was retarded by crack deflection and branching. The implications of the results are then discussed for the analyses of fatigue in nickel MEMS structures.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the Division of Materials Research, National Science Foundation (Grant No. DMR 0231418). Appreciation is extended to the Program Manager, Dr. Carmen Huber, for her encouragement and support. The authors also thank Dr. Tom Buchheit for providing the microscale columnar films that were used in the microtensile and stress-life fatigue experiments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Princeton Institute of the Science and Technology of Materials (PRISM), Princeton, NY, USA

    Y. Yang (Graduate Student) & W.O. Soboyejo (Professor)

  2. Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, 08544, USA

    Y. Yang (Graduate Student) & W.O. Soboyejo (Professor)

  3. Department of Physics and Geology, Northern Kentucky University, Highland Heights, KY, 41099, USA

    S. Allameh (Assistant Professor)

  4. Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science, Rice University, Houston, TX, 77005, USA

    J. Lou (Assistant Professor)

  5. Department of Metallurgical Engineering and Materials Science, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, 220005, Nigeria

    B. Imasogie (Associate Professor)

  6. Materials and Process Sciences Center, Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM, 87185, USA

    B.L. Boyce (Principal Member of the Technical Staff)

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  1. Y. Yang
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  2. S. Allameh
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  3. J. Lou
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  4. B. Imasogie
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  6. W.O. Soboyejo
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to W.O. Soboyejo.

Additional information

Manuscript submitted February 28, 2006.

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Yang, Y., Allameh, S., Lou, J. et al. Fatigue of LIGA Ni Micro-Electro-Mechanical System Thin Films. Metall Mater Trans A 38, 2340–2348 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11661-007-9246-y

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