Comparison of Bulge Test and Point Deflection Methods for the Mechanical Characterisation of Submicron Thick Composite Membranes

The aim of this work is to compare two methods for the determination of thin films Young's modulus and stress state: the bulge test and the point-deflection methods. The tested structures are silicon nitride and bilayers silicon nitride/silicon oxide membranes with thicknesses down to 100 nm. We report new experimental results for different shapes (square or rectangular) and dimensions.