Optical measurement of Young's modulus of a micro-beam

Abstract

This paper presents an optical method based on the interference of light beams of equal path difference for the measurement of the Young's modulus of a micro-beam. An optical wedge which consists of an optical plate and a micro-beam which forms part of a micro-accelerometer is illuminated by a collimated monochromatic sodium light beam. Loading on the micro-beam is accomplished by a loading-pin mounted on a three-axis translation stage and the resulting interference fringe pattern is observed using a CCD camera connected to a computer. Loadings are recorded using a high-sensitive load cell which measures loads of up to 200 g with a resolution of 0.01 g. Test results conducted on micro-beams of different sizes show good repeatability and comparison of the experimental results with theory shows good agreement.