Using optical microscopy, phase shifting interferometry, and atomic force microscopy, we characterize the undulated structures which appear in the meniscus of freestanding ferroelectric smectic-C* films. We demonstrate that these periodic structures correspond to undulations of the smectic-air interface. The resulting striped pattern disappears in the untilted smectic-A phase. The modulation am...

Cleavage cracking across twin boundaries in freestanding silicon thin films is investigated in a microtensile fracture experiment. If the twist misorientation is relatively small, the crack front transmission can be quite smooth; otherwise the fracture surface may be either planar or broken down into parallel terrains. In all the cases, the local fracture resistance tends to increase. PACS 62.2...

Recent applications in flexible electronics require that thin metal films grown on elastomer substrates be deformable. However, how such laminates deform is poorly understood. While a freestanding metal film subject to tension will rupture at a small strain by undergoing a necking instability, we anticipate that a substrate will retard this instability to an extent that depends on the relative ...

Some applications in microelectronics call for freestanding polyimide films with fine metallic wiring patterns that are thinner than commercially available copper-clad polyimide sheets, which are typically greater than 25 pm in thickness. This work describes a laserassisted technique to fabricate freestanding multilayer thin-film wiring with polyimide dielectric insulating layers that are less ...

Room-temperature tensile experiments on sub-micrometer freestanding thin films deposited at varied base pressures reveal two distinct classes of mechanical response. Samples that contain sufficient impurity concentrations to stabilize the microstructure against an applied stress show strong but brittle response. However, films that were deposited at lower vacuum base pressures that still allow ...

Experimental measurements and computational results for the evolution of plastic deformation in freestanding thin films are compared. In the experiments, the stress–strain response of two sets of Cu films is determined in the plane-strain bulge test. One set of samples consists of electroplated Cu films, while the other set is sputter-deposited. Unpassivated films, films passivated on one side ...

The mechanical flexibility and structural softness of ultrathin devices based on organic thin films and low-dimensional nanomaterials have enabled a wide range of applications including flexible display, artificial skin, and health monitoring devices. However, both living systems and inanimate systems that are encountered in daily lives are all 3D. It is therefore desirable to either create fre...

Prominent deflections are shown to occur in freestanding silicon nitride thin membranes when exposed to a 50 keV gallium focused ion beam for ion doses between 10(14) and 10(17) ions/cm(2). Atomic force microscope topographs were used to quantify elevations on the irradiated side and corresponding depressions of comparable magnitude on the back side, thus indicating that what at first appeared ...