Villanueva, GuillermoBarulli, AlbertoLarsen, Tom2018-01-172018-01-172018-01-172017https://infoscience.epfl.ch/handle/20.500.14299/144250In this work the design, fabrication and characterization of silicon nitride nano-mechanical resonators is presented, starting from silicon nitride thin films deposited on Si wafers according to ten different recipes. The properties of such devices will depend on design and material properties. As demonstrated in the previous work, silicon nitride material properties (such as stoichiometry, stress, roughness, refractive index, Young’s modulus) are strongly influenced by the deposition conditions (temperature, pressure, gas ratio and total gas flow). The long term goal of this project is to achieve the highest performances in NEMS resonators, and so high quality factors, finding out the best combination between deposition condition and device design. Most of the project is based on the microfabrication of membranes, cantilevers and beams. Two fabrications runs are performed: the purpose of the first fabrication run is to complete all the necessary trainings needed to use the tools in the cleanroom; the issues encountered during the first run are the starting point for the second fabrication run whose process flow is partially modified and optimized. In the last part of the thesis, some measurements about cantilevers deflection are shown. These measurements are carried out by using an optical profiler providing a 3D surface profile of devices.MicrofabricationSilicon nitrideMechanical resonatorsstudent work::master thesis