Abstract
This study demonstrated a micromachined testing device consisting of two chips to characterize the micro-contact properties, such as the contact force, the contact resistance and the contact surface roughness, of metal thin films. The testing device was designed to remove the parasitic resistance during the measurement. In addition, the two chips of the testing device can be disassembled and re-assembled; the interfacial properties can be quantified at different contact cycles. Thus, both the qualitative and quantitative relationships between the interfacial properties and the contact resistance can then be investigated. To demonstrate the feasibility of the present apparatus, the contact characteristics of evaporated Al films were characterized at different contact forces and cycles. Potential applications of the present apparatus included the performance enhancement for RF-MEMS switches, micro-connectors and micro-probes. © 2008 IOP Publishing Ltd.