Determination of the Mechanical Properties of Polysilicon Thin Films Using Bulge Testing

Abstract

ABSTRACTUsing standard deposition and micromachining techniques, silicon substrates with square and rectangular windows covered with membranes of polycrystalline silicon (polysilicon) have been fabricated. Pressure-displacement curves obtained during the bulge testing of membranes with the above geometries have been used to determine the elastic constants E and v of the polysilicon. The results obtained (E = 162± 4 GPa and v = 0.19±0.03) are in good agreement with literature values for bulk polycrystalline silicon.