Mechanical stability and sticking are troublesome problems in microfabrication and operation processes when the separations of components in microelectromechanical systems are in the sub-micrometre regime. Some hitherto neglected mechanical effects, including the quantum mechanical effect, should be taken into account for solving the problems. The magnitude of the Casimir force is significant when the membranes work in vacuum without the effect of capillary forces. In this paper, an analysis is presented of the influence of the Casimir effect with surface roughness, conductivity and temperature corrected on the deformation of a membrane strip structure. With nothing other than the Casimir force loading the strip, a stable static equilibrium state and an unstable static equilibrium state exist, depending on the value of a dimensionless constant K. The membrane strip will collapse if the value of K is larger than the critical value of KC. The critical value of KC varies with the value of wo. This provides a way to check if a system with given dimensions and material properties will be in a stable equilibrium. This also provides a way of designing a membrane strip with high resistance to collapse.

The increasing use of small micromechanical devices and advanced sensors has led to concern about the failure modes and reliability of these structures. The enormous promise will not materialize without substantial progress in overcoming the stiction, friction and wear associated with such devices and understanding the mechanical behavior of MEMS materials and structures. Self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) are release and anti-stiction coatings for MEMS. In this paper, the anti-stiction properties of octadecyltrichlorosilane (OTS) SAM were calculated. The microtribological properties of OTS SAM were investigated with a ball-on-flat microtribometer. The influence of OTS SAM on the mechanical properties of micromachined polysilicon films for MEMS was investigated with an accurate evaluation using the microtensile test device. It was concluded that the OTS SAM has good anti-stiction properties and low friction coefficients. The hydrophobic property of OTS is the main factor leading to an increase in the average fracture strength of micromachined polysilicon up to 32.46%. Thus, the operational stability and lifetime of MEMS can be raised when coated with self-assembled monolayers.

A new microtensile test device using a magnetic-solenoid force actuator was developed to evaluate the mechanical properties of microfabricated polysilicon thin films that were 100-660mm long, 20-200mm wide, and 2.4-mm thick. It was found that the measured average value of Young's modulus, 164 GPa

The nanoindentation fracture of multilayer hard coatings of TiNrTi C,N.rTiC, Al2O3rTiCrTi C,N.rTiC, TiNrTi C,N.rTiCrTi C,N.rTiC and TiNrTi C,N.rTiCrTi C,N.rTiCrTi C,N.rTiC, deposited on cemented carbide using a CVD technique was studied. Based on an analysis of the energy released in cracking, the calculated fracture toughness values of these coatings were 2.18, 1.74, 3.40 and 3.90 MPa m1r2, respectively. Both load-penetration depth and loadl penetration depth squared plots have been demonstrated to be necessary if a more complete understanding of the coating system behaviour is to be gained. The interfacial failure and the critical load of interfacial failure of these coatings were also discussed. A step was found in the forcel displacement curves at the onset of coating fracture. A straight line segment in the oad-penetration depth squared curves was discussed. The hardness, fracture toughness and anti-wearability of these coatings were compared. The results show that the fracture toughness and anti-wearability are getting higher with the layers increasing.

In the present study, high-Tc superconducting thin YBa2Cu3O7 films and polysilicon films were prepared to investigate the initial sliding friction properties using a ball-on-flat tribometer when samples were moved against a sapphire ball or a steel ball in ambient environment. The surface topography was measured with atomic force microscope (AFM). After five times testing, the experimental results indicate that the friction coefficient of YBa2Cu3O7 films is lower than that of polysilicon films when sliding against a sapphire ball and almost the same when sliding against a steel ball. In particular, the initial friction of YBa2Cu3O7 films is more stable when sliding against a sapphire ball. However, the initial friction of polysilicon films fluctuates during a cycle period when sliding against a sapphire ball. They are both stable when sliding against a steel ball. Although, the surface profile of the YBa2Cu3O7 film is rough and can be seen to be rougher than the polysilicon film, but the friction coefficient of the YBa2Cu3O7 film is lower than that of polysilicon film. Also, although the topography of YBa2Cu3O7 films changes during friction, the friction coefficients are stable. This clearly shows that the initial sliding friction of YBa2Cu3O7 films under microfriction is stable. The observation signifies YBCO film is a good film to prevent stick-slip motion in ambient environment. The wear properties of YBa2Cu3O7 films suggest that the superconducting outgrowths (CuO) are loose and they can be easily removed.