Probing the adhesion of submicron thin films fabricated on a polymer substrate via nano-transfer printing

Determining the interfacial adhesion of ultrathin functional films in micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) and nano-electro-mechanical systems (NEMS) becomes increasingly crucial for optimal design of MEMS/NEMS devices. However, direct measurement of adhesion properties of ultrathin films can be challenging, as the traditional metrology of adhesion at macroscopic scales becomes unsuitable in dealing with samples of extremely small dimension. In this paper, we present a feasible and robust approach combining nano-transfer printing (nTP) experiments and mechanics modeling to quantitatively determine the interfacial adhesion of submicron thin films. We show that the measurements of the interfacial adhesion of a submicron polycarbonate (PC) thin film on a PC substrate at multiple locations in multiple samples agree within 7.3%, demonstrating the accuracy and robustness of our approach. Given the versatility of the nTP process, the approach demonstrated in this paper is expected to be generally applicable to measure the adhesion of interfaces of other material combinations. In this sense, this study sheds light on better understanding of the adhesive properties of functional interfaces in MEMS and NEMS. (Some figures may appear in colour only in the online journal)