Hi !
        Just thought that I maybe of some help (if any). Whatever you may
to wish to use depends on how accurate you want your readings to be
(apparently) and how much are you willing to spend or cannibalize.
we have did some measurements ranging from diaphragms, cantilevers (both
surface and backside release) as well as end clamped plates.
        Typically a microscope using the focus-defocus method can give you
quite a good indication of the deflection, but do watch out for the
backlash. i'm now assuming you already have a setup to apply the force. A
probe station will do as fine.
        If you don't have a force application unit, you may want to know
the deflection and then work backwards to know the applied force. For
characterisation, it should work just as fine. All you need is to take one
of the probes of the probe station and mount a micrometer on it. we have
done it be before. For 15 um, it should works as fine. But do watch out
for the deflection of the probe arm and tip. On the other hand, if your
probe station has an adjustable platen with in-bulit micrometer, that
would be splendid. If not, an Alpha Step 200 Surface Profiler can come in
very handy. It can apply a force of up to 25uN and at the same time give
you the deflection plot. But you have to calibrate the force applied
before using though. Calibration can be quite a pain and beware that what
you see on the screen can be only half of what is applied.
        If you are looking for really high end displacement measurement
setup like using triangulation and so on, I'm sorry that I can't help you.
But I think there are tons of paper out there regarding that. A lot of
schematic diagrams though.
        Good Luck.

        CHUA Bee Lee
        Department of Mechanical and Production Engineering
        National University of Singapore

On Wed, 20 Jan 1999, LI LI wrote:

> Does anyone know where I can find an instrument that can measure a 15
> micrometers deflection of a MEMS structure with a load in mili-Newton
> range? The sample is a doubly supported beam which is 200 micrometers long
> and 100 micrometers wide and 10 micrometers thick.
> Thanks in advance.
>
>
>
> ----------------------------
> Li Li
> Dept. Mechanical Engineering
> University of Arkansas
> Fayetteville, AR 72701
> Tel: 501-521-9890
> Fax: 501-575-6982
> E-mail: ll0@engr.uark.edu
> ----------------------------
>
>
>