Specimen size effect on tensile strength of surface-micromachined polycrystalline silicon thin films

A new tensile tester using an electrostatic-force grip was developed to evaluate the tensile strength and the reliability of thin-film materials. The tester was constructed in a scanning electron microscope (SEM) chamber for in situ observation and was applied for tensile testing of polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si) thin films with dimensions of 30-300 /spl mu/m long, 2-5 /spl mu/m wide, and 2 /spl mu/m thick. It was found that the mean tensile strengths of nondoped and P-doped poly-Si are 2.0-2.8 and 2.0-2.7 GPa, respectively, depending on the length of the specimens, irrespective of the specimen width. Statistical analysis of these size effects on the tensile strength predicted that the location of the fracture origin was on the edge of the specimen, which was Identified by the SEM observation of the fracture surface of the thin films.