Bourns Hall

Colloquium

Dr. Rui Huang University of Texas at Austin Time-Dependent Mechanical Behavior in Thin Films Abstract Thin film materials are widely used in many technological applications including microelectronic devices, micro/nano electromechanical systems, and surface coatings. Understanding the time-dependent mechanical behavior is important for the manufacturing and reliability of thin films. This talk will discuss recent progresses in modeling and understanding of slow cracking, wrinkling, ratcheting, and diffusion-induced stress relaxation in a variety of thin film materials including metals, ceramics, semiconductors, and soft organic materials. Both analytical models and numerical simulations will be presented, in comparison with experimental observations. The focus will be on the mechanisms of time-dependent behavior that manifest at small scales, which include viscoelastic creep, cyclic plastic yield, and diffusional mass transport. Based on the theoretical findings, several potential applications will be proposed for micro/nanoscale fabrication, lifetime prediction, electromigration, and mechanical characterization. Biosketch Rui Huang received a B.S. degree in Theoretical and Applied Mechanics from the University of Science and Technology of China in 1994 and a PhD degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Princeton University in 2001. He was a postdoc research associate at the Princeton Materials Institute before he joined the University of Texas at Austin in September 2002. He is now an assistant professor in the department of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics at University of Texas-Austin. Wednesday, February 16, 2005 Bourns Hall A265 10:10 a.m.-11:00 a.m. (Refreshments will be served at 10:00 a.m.)