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Updated: Feb 11, 2026

Fabrication of 3D Carbon Microelectromechanical Systems C-MEMS
Published on: June 17, 2017
A microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) force-displacement transducer for sub-5 nm nanoindentation and adhesion
Youfeng Zhang1, Yunje Oh2, Douglas Stauffer2
1Department of Mechanical Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77840, USA.
Abstract:
We present a highly sensitive force-displacement transducer capable of performing ultra-shallow nanoindentation and adhesion measurements. The transducer utilizes electrostatic actuation and capacitive sensing combined with microelectromechanical fabrication technologies. Air indentation experiments report a root-mean-square (RMS) force resolution of 1.8 nN and an RMS displacement resolution of 0.019 nm. Nanoindentation experiments on a standard fused quartz sample report a practical RMS force resolution of 5 nN and an RMS displacement resolution of 0.05 nm at sub-10 nm indentation depths, indicating that the system has a very low system noise for indentation experiments. The high sensitivity and low noise enables the transducer to obtain high-resolution nanoindentation data at sub-5 nm contact depths. The sensitive force transducer is used to successfully perform nanoindentation measurements on a 14 nm thin film. Adhesion measurements were also performed, clearly capturing the pull-on and pull-off forces during approach and separation of two contacting surfaces.
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