caa a22 4500 606209735 CHVBK 20210128101030.0 cr unu---uuuuu 210128e20151201xx s 000 0 eng 10.1007/s11220-015-0124-1 doi (NATIONALLICENCE)springer-10.1007/s11220-015-0124-1 Conducting Probe Atomic Force Microscope as a Relevant Tool for Studying Some Phenomena in MEMS Switches [Elektronische Daten] [A. Peschot, M. Vincent, C. Poulain, D. Mariolle, F. Houzé, J. Delamare] As the reliability of electrical microcontacts has proved to be the main limitation to a fast-growing production of ultraminiaturized switches, a thorough understanding of their failure mechanisms is an all-important purpose. This paper aims at showing that conducting-probe Atomic Force Microscopy (cp-AFM) is an adequate tool to actuate and study electrical contacts. By choosing relevant cantilevers and operating mode of the cp-AFM, dimensions, gap and force level representative of existing microelectromechanical switches (MEMS switches) are obtained. With two examples, the advantages of using a cp-AFM in force mode for studying physical phenomena at very low scale are highlighted. The reported investigations concern material transfer between contact parts and contact bounces. Those two undesirable phenomena induce surface damages and impinge reliability of MEMS switches. In both cases an explanatory scenario of phenomena occurring at nanoscale is proposed and preventive recommendations for improving the lifetime of such devices are suggested. Springer Science+Business Media New York, 2015 Microelectromechanical switches nationallicence Electrical micro-contacts nationallicence Material transfer nationallicence Fowler-Nordheim effect nationallicence Bounces nationallicence Peschot A. Univ Grenoble Alpes, 38000, Grenoble, France aut Vincent M. Univ Grenoble Alpes, 38000, Grenoble, France aut Poulain C. Univ Grenoble Alpes, 38000, Grenoble, France aut Mariolle D. Univ Grenoble Alpes, 38000, Grenoble, France aut Houzé F. GeePs, UMR CNRS-CentraleSupélec 8507, Paris-Sud, UPMC, 91192, Gif-sur-Yvette, France aut Delamare J. Univ Grenoble Alpes, 38000, Grenoble, France aut Sensing and Imaging Springer US; http://www.springer-ny.com 16/1(2015-12-01), 1-10 1557-2064 16:1<1 2015 16 11220 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11220-015-0124-1 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI BK010053 XK010053 XK010000 Metadata rights reserved Springer special CC-BY-NC licence nationallicence 1 research-article jats NATIONALLICENCE NATIONALLICENCE NL-springer NATIONALLICENCE 856 40 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11220-015-0124-1 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Peschot A. Univ Grenoble Alpes, 38000, Grenoble, France aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Vincent M. Univ Grenoble Alpes, 38000, Grenoble, France aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Poulain C. Univ Grenoble Alpes, 38000, Grenoble, France aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Mariolle D. Univ Grenoble Alpes, 38000, Grenoble, France aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Houzé F. GeePs, UMR CNRS-CentraleSupélec 8507, Paris-Sud, UPMC, 91192, Gif-sur-Yvette, France aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Delamare J. Univ Grenoble Alpes, 38000, Grenoble, France aut NATIONALLICENCE 773 0- Sensing and Imaging Springer US; http://www.springer-ny.com 16/1(2015-12-01), 1-10 1557-2064 16:1<1 2015 16 11220