Cyclic magnetic actuation technique for thin film interfacial fatigue crack propagation

•A fixtureless fatigue delamination peel test for as-deposited thin films is proposed.•Magnetic actuation enables precision non-contact constant amplitude loading.•Crack propagation rate was captured using time-lapse optical microscopy.•Paris Law constants were determined for 1.6μm thick Cu film on Si substrate. Interfacial fatigue crack characterization is challenging for as-deposited thin films due to issues with fixturing and precision application of cyclic loading. A fixtureless and microfabricated test technique is presented to characterize delamination propagation rate as a function of constant amplitude fatigue loading using a novel peel test configuration and magnetic actuation. The test was demonstrated for 1.6μm thick Cu films on a Si substrate, where interfacial fatigue crack propagation was observed to follow Paris Law behavior.