Lab-on-chip for in- and ex-situ characterization of the mechanical response of nano-objects

The characterization and understanding of mechanical properties of nano-objects in the form of thin films, ribbons, wires, beams, pillars and dots are of prime interest for fundamental research and become increasingly important with the emergence of innovative nano-device applications. For the last twenty years, numerous experimental methods of different complexity in terms of implementation and analysis have been developed involving on-chip mechanical testing platform based on silicon nano- and micro-fabrication techniques. Within this framework, for several years the UCL team has produced MEMS-based lab-on-chips to explore ‘in-situ’ or ‘ex-situ’ the mechanical properties of freestanding nano-objects. Recently, a novel generation of on-chip tensile test structures has been designed, including newly upgraded structures dedicated to the mismatch strain extraction, uniaxial, biaxial tensile and shear testing, as well as pillars for compression testing. This presentation aims to introduce the working principle and the data reduction schemes of the main on-chip test structures to the community of the GDRi MECANO, for further dissemination. Furthermore, a review of the possible coupling with characterization tools such as X-ray micro-diffraction, EBSD, TEM, and AFM will be addressed