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arXiv · 1903.02289

Nanomechanical Spectroscopy of Ultrathin Silicon Nitride Suspended Membranes

S. S. Jugade·A. Aggarwal·A. K. Naik
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Abstract

Mechanical properties of a nanomechanical resonator have a significant impact on the performance of a resonant Nano-electromechanical system (NEMS) device. Here we study the mechanical properties of suspended membranes fabricated out of low-pressure chemical vapor deposited silicon nitride thin films. Doubly-clamped membranes of silicon nitride with thickness less than 50 nm and length varying from 5 um to 60 um were fabricated. The elastic modulus and stress in the suspended membranes were measured using Atomic Force Microscope (AFM)-based nanomechanical spectroscopy. The elastic modulus of the suspended membranes was found to be significantly higher than those of corresponding thin films on the substrate. A reduction in the net stress after the fabrication of suspended membrane was observed and is explained by estimating the contributions of thermal stress and intrinsic stress. We establish a mathematical model to calculate the normalized elastic modulus of a suspended membrane. Lastly, we study the capillary force-gradient between the SiNx suspended membrane-Si substrate that could collapse the suspended membrane.

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S. S. Jugade, A. Aggarwal, A. K. Naik. 2019-03-06. Nanomechanical Spectroscopy of Ultrathin Silicon Nitride Suspended Membranes. https://arxiv.org/abs/1903.02289

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