2. Statistical analysis of local deformation of contact surfaces

After deposition of the thin films, the contact surfaces are rough. They are composed of a multitude of asperities (figure 6 ) with different radii of curvature r and heights z. One of the first quantified studies of the evolution of contact surface morphology in ohmic MEMS microrelays was carried out by Gregori and Clarke . In this case, the mechanical sphere/plane contact between two thin gold films was measured at a contact force of 180 µN. The diameter of the residual imprint increases...