Papers by Keyword: Micro Cantilever Beam

Abstract: The vibrational characteristics of cantilever beams with initial axial tension were studied using a nonlocal continuum Euler-Bernoulli beam model. Small size effects are essential to nanotechnology and it can not be ignored in micro or nano scale. Nonlocal elasticity theory has been proved to work well in nanomechanics and it is considered into the governing equation which can be transformed into a fourth-order ordinary differential equation together with a dispersion relation. Boundary conditions are applied so as to determine the analytical solutions of vibrational mode shape and transverse deformation through a numerical method. Relations between natural frequency and the small scale parameter are obtained, including the fundamental and the second order frequencies. It is found that both the small scale parameter and dimensionless initial axial tension play remarkable roles in dynamic behaviors of micro cantilever beams and their effects are analyzed and discussed in detail.

Abstract: In the present work, silicon carbide (SiC) films were deposited by RF magnetron sputtering process on Si (100) substrates for micro-cantilever fabrication. The films were deposited without external substrate heating using a ceramic SiC target at 10 mTorr sputtering pressure, 200 W power and 50 mm target-to-substrate spacing. X-ray diffraction pattern shows that the films were amorphous in nature. In order to investigate the chemical inertness, the SiC coated Si substrates were dipped in buffered HF (BHF) at room temperature and in 40% KOH solution at 80 °C for varying length of time. Atomic force microscope was used to investigate surface roughness and morphology of the films before and after chemical processing. Micro-cantilever beams of the SiC film were fabricated by a single mask process. The SiC film was patterned using reactive ion etching (RIE) in SF₆-O2 plasma. Thermally evaporated Al film was used as a mask during RIE process. This process also resulted in the formation of convex corners which were exploited for anisotropic etching of Si under the SiC film. The SiC cantilever beams were released by anisotropic etching of Si in KOH at 80 °C without using additional masking material. Scanning electron microscopy was used to observe the fabricated SiC micro-cantilever beams. The morphology of the SiC film after prolonged exposure to KOH was observed to be similar to that of the as-deposited film. The RF magnetron sputtered SiC films were found to be highly inert in KOH and BHF solutions. Due to difficulty in micromachining of bulk SiC material and its high cost, the RF sputtered SiC films on Si can provide a low cost structural material in MEMS.

Abstract: Nonlinear modeling method for the structural dynamic analysis of a micro cantilever beam actuated by electrostatic force is presented in this study. Static deflection is first obtained by solving nonlinear static equilibrium equation and the modal and the stability characteristics are calculated at the static equilibrium position. It is found that the amplitude and the frequency of the applied electrostatic voltage influence the stability of the structure significantly.