Automated, Statistical Microcompression Testing

Microcompression is an exciting application that allows uniaxial stress-strain behavior to be locally measured at small scales. 

Microcompression is an exciting application that allows uniaxial stress-strain behavior to be locally measured at small scales. However, it usually requires a skilled operator to manually position the flat punch tip above each pillar separately. This limits the number of tests which can be performed in a reasonable amount of time. Automation of the testing requires both the fabrication of a large, regular array of micropillars and the precise rotational alignment of the sample array’s axes with the testing system’s positioning axes. In this application note, automated, statistical microcompression of 100 lithography silicon pillars was performed in only 20 minutes using a new rotated test array function. This allows rapid acquisition of statistical microcompression data using a range of different compression parameters: variable strain levels, strain rate jumps, etc..