18ECE302T-MEMS Technology

Unit-2, Lecture-14: Torsional deflection, intrinsic stress

Dr. Md Jawaid Alam

mdjawaia@ssrmist.edu.in

Department of ECE
SRM Institute of Science and Technology
Kattankulathur, Chennai

March 6, 2023
Torsional Deflection
Torsional beams are often used to create large angular displacement
The mirror plate is supported by torsional bars to facilitate rotation.

The torsion induces radially symmetric shear stress throughout the bar.
The magnitude of the shear stress is zero in the center of the cross section and reaches maximum
at the outer surface of the bar. The maximum shear strain is:
d
γmax = (1)
L
Dr. Md Jawaid Alam (SRM) 18ECE302T-MEMS Technology March 6, 2023 1/6
 The first slide
Torque balance at any given section:
The total angular displacement subtended by the
τmax
Z ! Z
r
T= τmax dA.r = r2 dA (2) torsion:
r0 r0
d Lθ L τmax T L
R Φ= = = = (5)
The surface integral r2 dA is called the torsional r0 r0 r0 G JG
moment of inertia, denoted by J .
For rectangular cross sections, with width=2w
τmax πr4 τmax and thickness = 2t:
Z
T= 2πr3 dr = 0 (3)
r0 2 r0 "
16 t t4
!#
J = wt3 − 3.36 1 − (6)
The magnitude of the maximum shear stress is 3 w 12w4

T r0 For square cross section with the length of each

τmax = (4) side being 2a is
J
where The torsional moment of inertia of a circle J = 2.25a4 (7)
πr4
with a radius of is J = 20 .

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 Example 3.10
A suspended beam shown in the diagram below is under Solution:
a force F = 10 µN . Find the vertical displacement at
the end of the beam, assuming the flexural bending of Find shear modulus of elasticity:
the cantilever beam is negligible. The dimensions of the G = 2(1+ν)
E
= 57.7 GPa.
beam are L = 40 µm, l = 200 µm, w = 5 µm, t = 2 µm. The Calculate J using equation (6).
Young’s Modulus of the beam material is E = 150 GPa. J = 6.2 × 10−25 m4
The Poisson’s ratio of the beam material is 0.3.
Plug in the expression for torque,
T = FL, into the expression for the
bending angle:
T 2l
Φ= JG = FLl
2JG = 1.13 rad = 65◦ .
The vertical displacement at the free
end is equal to the product of Φ and L.

FL2 l
dtorsional = ΦL = (8)
2JG

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 INTRINSIC STRESS
Thin film materials associated with MEMS, such
as polysilicon, silicon nitride, and many metal thin
films, exhibit intrinsic stresses.
Internal stress even when they are under
room temperature and zero external load-
ing conditions.
The magnitude of the intrinsic stress may
be identical or nonuniform throughout the
thickness of the thin film.

A common scenario of intrinsic stress in-

duced beam bending involves a microstruc-
ture with two or more structural layers.

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Bending due to intrinsic stress

The intrinsic stress can be used to induce

out of plane deformation to realize unique
device architecture.
The position of the neutral axis is
 
1
2 E1 t12 + E2 t22 E2 t1 t2
ȳ = (9)
E 1 t1 + E 2 t2
The subscript letters correspond to layers
If the thin-film layer has tensile stress then beam 1 or 2, with Layer 2 on the bottom.
would bend towards the thin-film layer =⇒ If
the thin film is on top then it will bend upward, if The effective flexural stiffness is calculated by:
on the bottom then will bend towards down side. 

 1
 t t

2 
 2
 t t

2 
Ie f f E0 = w E1 t1  1 + 1 − ȳ  + E2 t2  2 + 2 + t1 − ȳ  (10)
 
12 2 12 2
If the thin-film layer has compressive stress then
beam would bend away from the thin-film layer.
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 Bending due to intrinsic stress Cont..
The bending moment acting on the cantilever is: There are three strategies for minimizing undesir-
able intrinsic bending:
1 Use materials that inherently have zero or
very low intrinsic stress
2 Fine tune the stress by calibrating and con-
The radius of curvature of the beam bending, R, trolling deposition conditions
is given by
Ie f f E 0
3 Use multiple layered structures to compen-
R= (11) sate stress-induced bending
M
For single layer thin film, curvature of substrate:

1 6 (1 − ν) σh
C= = (12)
R Et2
Where, ν the Poisson’s ratio of the substrate, σ
the in-plane stress of the thin film, t the substrate
thickness, and h the thickness of the thin film.
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