In order to characterize the mechanical behavior of fragile resonant microelectromechanical systems (MEMS)/nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS), nondestructive measurements are required. In this paper, a cartography of local stiffness variations on a suspended micromembrane is established for the first time, by a tuning-fork-based dynamic force sensor inside a scanning electron microscope (SEM). Experiments are conducted individually on a batch of InP membranes 200 nm thin, using a 9-degree-of-freedom (dof) nanomanipulation system, complemented with virtual reality and automation tools. Results provide stiffness values in the range of a few newton per meter, with variations in a single sample depending on the membrane models.

Typical methods of measuring mechanical properties at the micro-scale are destructive, and do not allow proper characterisation on resonant MEMS/NEMS. In this paper, a cartography of local stiffness variations on a suspended micromembrane is established for the first time, by a tuning-fork-based dynamic force sensor inside a SEM. Experiments are conducted on InP membranes 200nm thin, using a 9-DoF nano-manipulation system, complemented with virtual reality and automation tools. Results provide stiffness values ranging from 0.6 to 3 N/m on a single sample.

In this article, a nanorobotic manipulation system under Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) is developed for mechanical property characterization of ultra flexible nano-structures. Frequency modulated quartz tuning fork is proposed as gradient force sensing. Helical Nanobelts (HNB) were used as example to demonstrate the capabilities of the proposed system. The stiffness of HNBs were obtained in full tensile elongation experiments, ranging from 0.009 N/m at rest position to 0.297 N/m at full elongation before breaking with a resolution of 0.0031 N/m. The non-linear behavior of the HNB's measured stiffness is clearly revealed for the first time in full range. Furthermore, the stiffness could be transformed into force measurement that ranges from 14.5 nN to 2.96 μN.