Thin films on cantilevers

The main goal of the work compiled in this thesis is to investigate thin films for integration in micro electromechanical systems (MEMS). The miniaturization of MEMS actuators and sensors without compromising their performance requires thin films of different active materials with specific properties. The properties of materials in thin film form differ from those in bulk, because of large surface to volume ratio, unique microstructure, constraints imposed by the substrate, etc. The work deals with easy to fabricate single crystal silicon micro cantilever structures and capacitors as test devices to explore material properties in the thin films domain. Cantilevers are deposited with the thin films under investigation and capacitors were formed by sandwiching the active material between top and bottom electrodes. Identification of the sources of error and their quantification and reduction increases the reliability and accuracy of our characterization methods.