An investigation of fatigue in LIGA Ni MEMS thin films

This paper presents results of an experimental study of fatigue in LIGA Ni micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS)/thin films produced by electroplating from a sulfamate bath at a current density of 50 mA/cm2. Following a brief description of microstructure and micro-tensile properties, the results of stress-life (S-N) experiments are presented for specimens with thicknesses of 70 and 270 μm. Specimens with the thicker cross-sections (270 μm thick) are shown to have comparable fatigue resistance to annealed bulk Ni in the as-plated condition. The thinner specimens (70 μm thick) have comparable fatigue resistance to hardened Ni, and better fatigue resistance than the thicker samples. The underlying fatigue fracture modes are elucidated via scanning electron microscopy. The implications of the results are then discussed for the failure analysis of LIGA Ni MEMS structures.