Adhesion energy in silicon MEMS: comparison of experiments and simulations

The purpose of this research is to study the adhesion phenomena in poly-silicon Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) by means of experimental characterization and numerical simulation. In the experimental part, the adhesion energy is measured on-chip by means of on-purpose designed and fabricated devices; moreover, the surface roughness is characterized through the atomic force microscope. For the numerical part, a specific method has been developed in order to simulate the process of adhesion