Measurement of Large Forces and Deflections in Microstructures

Abstract: Properties of typical MEMS materials have been widely investigated. Mechanical properties of MEMS structures depend not only on the bulk material properties, but also structural factors. A measurement system has been made to measure force/deflection on microstructures to examine some of the structural properties. This is a stylus setup integrated with a load cell and a linear actuator. First, the requirements for the measurement system were established. Then the system was built up and characterized. We have successfully made measurements on a typical micromechanical structure, a cantilever accelerometer design. The stylus placement accuracy, the spring constant along the proof mass, analysis of the force/deflection curve shape and destructive tests on the cantilever have been investigated in our experiment and will be presented in this paper.