Micro-scale cantilever testing of linear elastic and elastic-plastic materials

It is increasingly a requirement to be able to determine the mechanical properties of materials: (i) at the micro-scale, (ii) that are in the form of surface coatings and (iii) that have nanoscale microstructures. As a consequence micro-scale testing is an important tool that has been developed to aid the evaluation of the mechanical properties of such materials. In this work cantilever beam specimens (typically 2 mu m by 2 mu m by 10 mu m in size) have been prepared by gallium ion milling and then deformed in-situ within a FEI Helios Dual Beam workstation. The latter is achieved using a force probe with a geometry suitable for loading the micro-scale test specimens. Thus force and displacement can be measured together with observing the deformation and fracture of the individual specimens. This paper considers the evaluation of the mechanical properties in particular elastic modulus, yield strength and fracture strength of materials that result in relatively large deflections to the micro-scale cantilever beams. Two materials are considered the first is linear elastic single crystal silicon and the other elastic-plastic nanocrystalline (nc) nickel. The results are discussed with respect to the reproducibility of this method of mechanical testing and the evaluated properties are compared with those derived by alternative procedures.