Controlling the Wrinkling of the Bilayer Thin Films Electrothermally

MRS Online Proceedings Library volume 1139, Article number: 320 (2008) Cite this article

Abstract

Wrinkling of thin sheets under strain is a universal phenomenon. The amplitude and period of the wrinkles formed in a thin sheet clamped at both ends are dependent on its strain and material parameters. In our study, wrinkling is observed in microscale for double clamped thin films (L>W>>t) consisting of 200nm deposited low stress silicon nitride bridges fabricated by bulk micromachining. A bilayer system is formed with 30nm aluminum evaporated on to these bridges. At room temperature the bridges are essentially flat. When an electrical current passes through the aluminum layer electrothermal, heating results in thermal expansion that wrinkles the bilayer. In addition we investigated various dimensions of the bridges and their correlation to the amplitude and the number of wrinkles. The observations are compared to existing wrinkling theory.

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Affiliations

  1. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, North Carolina State University, 2410 Campus Shore Drive, 27606, Raleigh, NC, U.S.A.

    Shravan Chintapatla, F. Muth John & M. Lunardi Leda

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  1. Shravan Chintapatla
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  2. F. Muth John
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  3. M. Lunardi Leda
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Correspondence to Shravan Chintapatla.

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Chintapatla, S., John, F.M. & Leda, M.L. Controlling the Wrinkling of the Bilayer Thin Films Electrothermally. MRS Online Proceedings Library 1139, 320 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1557/PROC-1139-GG03-20

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