Real-time dynamic behavior analysis of thin film during in-situ SEM tensile testing

Thin films are widely used in micro/nano-electronics. To accurately evaluate the mechanical behavior of thin films, it is important to analyze their dynamic behavior during mechanical testing in real-time. However, high-magnification SEM (Scanning Electron Microscope) images for applying strain measurement require time-consuming. In this study, we propose a method for real-time dynamic behavior analysis of thin films using in-situ SEM testing and image-based strain measurement, to obtain the mechanical properties of the thin film material to ensure reliability. We developed an in-situ SEM tensile tester that can be installed within the limited space of a chamber and optimized the magnification and resolution settings to obtain images at 1 frame per second. Therefore, we applied an image-based strain measurement method as continuously acquired high-magnification images from SEM. This method enables us to analyze the dynamic behavior of thin film materials, including failure mechanism.