The effect of water on the mechanical properties of native oxide coated silicon structure in MEMS

YA Zhang and JY Tao and YL Wang and ZQ Ren and B Liu and X Chen, MICROELECTRONICS RELIABILITY, 53, 1672-1675 (2013).

DOI: 10.1016/j.microrel.2013.07.018

The influence of a humid environment on the reliability of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) needs to be considered in applications such as chemical and biological sensors. We have examined the effects of water on the mechanical properties of silicon thin-films covered by a surface native oxide layer using reactive molecular dynamics simulations. The results of quasi-static tensions show that the silicon fracture strength of 11.2 GPa in the presence of water is lower than the fracture strength of 16.3 GPa in dry environment. Moreover, the effect of water on the tension properties of silicon is extremely rapid (within 2 ns). In both dry and liquid water environments, the cracks initiate from the silicon structure rather than from the surface oxide layer. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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