Many advanced technologies center on devices of small feature sizes made of diverse materials. Internal stresses that arise in the devices during fabrication and use can result in fracture. Fracture of an individual feature in such a device may impair the function of the device. The materials surrounding the feature have a constraining effect on the elastic energy available to drive the fracture, the plastic flow associated with the fracture, and sometimes even the atomic processes at the crack tip. This article reviews fracture behavior in small structures, several distinct roles played by plasticity, and bond-breaking kinetics. Research challenges are alsooutlined.
