Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 February 2011
A review of recent developments in experimental and theoretical studies of the mechanicalbehavior of polycrystalline silicon structures whose dimensions are comparable to those of typicalmicro electromechanical systems devices is presented. It is concluded that although great strides have been made towards understanding this behavior, there is a need to develop robust standardized experimental techniques, and in turn, material data bases that are required to verify and calibrate predictive models for calculating device reliability.