An on-chip experimental assessment Of Casimir force effect in micro-electromechanical systems

Author

Ardito, Raffaele ; De Masi, Biagio ; Frangi, Attilio ; Corigliano, Alberto

Author_Institution

Dept. of Struct. Eng., Politec. di Milano, Milan, Italy

fYear

2010

fDate

26-28 April 2010

Firstpage

1

Lastpage

8

Abstract

The influence of Casimir force on the mechanical behaviour of micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) has deserved much attention in the recent scientific literature. This paper reports the outcomes of an experimental test, carried out on a micro-structure which reproduces the essential features of real-life MEMS. The aim of the experiment was to evaluate the effect of Casimir forces between two parallel plates, separated by a sub-micron gap. The results of the tests are critically evaluated by comparison with theoretical predictions, account taken of some peculiar features of Casimir forces for silicon slabs in real MEMS. The obtained results suggest that Casimir force could play an important role for micro and nano devices.

Keywords

Casimir effect; micromechanical devices; Casimir force effect; MEMS; mechanical behaviour; micro-electro-mechanical systems; micro-electromechanical systems; silicon slabs; Adhesives; Atomic force microscopy; Finite element methods; Force measurement; Microelectromechanical systems; Micromechanical devices; Rough surfaces; Surface cracks; Surface roughness; System-on-a-chip;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Thermal, Mechanical & Multi-Physics Simulation, and Experiments in Microelectronics and Microsystems (EuroSimE), 2010 11th International Conference on

Conference_Location

Bordeaux

Print_ISBN

978-1-4244-7026-6

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/ESIME.2010.5464555

Filename

5464555