Temperature-dependent behavior of thin film by microtensile testing

As microsystem components decrease in size and current densities in interconnects increase, the device temperature increases. Thus the mechanical behavior of thin films at elevated temperature will become increasingly important. We developed the micro tensile testing system to evaluate the mechanical properties of thin films at elevated temperatures. The testing system consists of the high temperature furnace and the DIC (Digital Image Correlation) system which measures the strain of the specimen in real time. Programs of the testing system were developed using LabVIEW 8.5 programming language and Vision Development Module 8.5. The material of specimen is Ni thin film made by electroplating that is used as a UBM (under bump metallurgy) material. In this study, tensile tests were performed at room and elevated temperatures. As results, stress-strain curves were plotted at each temperature, and the mechanical properties such as Youngpsilas modulus, yield strength and tensile strength were acquired.