A New Method to Determine Adhesion of Cantilever Beams Using Beam Height Experimental Data

A new method for calculating the apparent work of adhesion of microfabricated cantilever beams is presented and validated. This technique, based on popular beam mechanics, directly utilizes interferometrically produced deflection experimental data. The data are analyzed based on an energy minimization approach along the lines of a previous methodology. However, the new technique differs in that it does not rely on a priori knowledge of the shape of cantilever beams to evaluate work of adhesion. In order to validate the new method, both synthetic and empirical cantilever beam data were examined. The results show that apparent work of adhesion values calculated using this method agree well with values determined using a technique previously developed and widely accepted.