Mechanical properties of helically perforated thin films

The mechanical behavior of a helically perforated thin film structure was simulated by finite element analysis. The validity of the results was confirmed by comparison to a nanoindentation measurement performed on a nickel helically perforated thin film sample. It was found that variation of the helical pitch angle from 35° to 70° resulted in a change of 1.5 times in the elastic modulus. Since the fabrication process used to create the actual samples allows for variation of the pitch angle, this result may enable the tailoring of materials for use in micro- and nanoscale devices.