IEC 62047-46:2025

Overview

IEC 62047-46:2025 defines an in‑situ tensile strength measurement method for silicon-based MEMS membranes with nanoscale thickness. The standard covers membranes fabricated by micromachining and microelectronics technology whose dimensions fall in the ranges: length 100 µm–5 000 µm, width 100 µm–1 000 µm, thickness 50 nm–500 nm. It specifies design, fabrication and test‑execution requirements for an on‑chip tester that enables tensile testing without specialized instruments such as AFM or nanoindenters.

Key topics and requirements

• Scope and applicability
  • In‑situ tensile strength measurement of nanoscale thickness membranes produced in the same process and wafer as MEMS devices.
• In‑situ on‑chip tester design
  • Tester integrates testing structure and testing device on one chip (on‑chip tester).
  • Overlap between testing structure and testing device must exceed 30 µm to prevent detachment during test.
  • End geometry must ensure fracture occurs in the mid‑section of the membrane.
  • Folded beam stiffness should be at least two orders of magnitude lower than the testing structure stiffness so measured force approximates tensile force.
  • Fixed column and ring structures must form a process‑limited fixed hinge to maintain axial tensile loading.
  • Deflection ruler must be readable with optical microscopy (design guidance in Annex A).
• Fabrication
  • Tester and device must share the same silicon process; in‑situ tester made of crystalline silicon (examples include bulk silicon processes and silicon–glass anodic bonding).
• Testing environment and method
  • Tests are performed in the device’s manufacturing environment (actual MEMS chip environment).
  • The method monitors device deformation under a driving load using microscopy; tensile strength is computed from the maximum observed force divided by original cross‑sectional area.
• Measurement resolution
  • Aspect ratios of elastic beams and testing structures must be selected to achieve a stress measurement resolution of ≤100 MPa.

Applications and users

• MEMS device designers seeking process‑relevant mechanical property data for design validation.
• Process engineers in semiconductor fabs for monitoring tensile strength degradation due to defects or contamination.
• R&D teams developing silicon‑based micro‑electromechanical devices who need on‑wafer, non‑intrusive tensile testing.
• Test laboratories that implement wafer‑level mechanical characterization without AFM/nanoindenter equipment.

Related standards

• Part of the IEC 62047 series (Micro‑electromechanical devices). See IEC 62047‑45:2025 for related terminology and testing structure/device definitions.

Keywords: IEC 62047-46:2025, tensile strength, nanoscale thickness membrane, in‑situ on‑chip tester, silicon-based MEMS fabrication, micromachining, tensile testing.