BALANCE-APPROACH FOR LOAD-DISPLACEMENT MEASUREMENT OF MICROSTRUCTURES

A simple and effective method using a balance to measure micro force a nd corresponding deflection is presented. The method is proved to be v ery practical in testing the force-deflection behavior of silicon cant ilever, in which the Young's modulus of the material can be calculated , and in investigating the static performance of bulk micromachined ca pacitive accelerometers. The same value of the Young's modulus was obt ained on much different microstructures including the single silicon c antilevers and the beam-island structures of capacitive accelerometers . The balance approach for micro force-displacement measurement is ver y attractive for its easiness in operation, low cost and higher resolu tion. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.