Micromechanical test structures have been developed for evaluating mechanical properties of thin gold films. Using micromachining techniques, gold cantilever beams of different geometry (typically 40 to 100-μm-long, 2-μm-thick and around 1-μm-wide), were fabricated. These cantilevers were resonated by electrical excitation in a scanning electron microscope (SEM) and Young's modulus, Q-factor and fatigue properties were deduced from these experiments. The longest cantilevers showed a slight upward curvature which allowed the internal stress gradient to be evaluating.
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