Characterization of the variation of the material properties in a freestanding inhomogeneous thin film

This Letter presents a new technique for measuring the variation of the material properties along the thickness in a freestanding inhomogeneous thin film. The analytical results reveal a simple relation between the material properties and the set of cut-off frequencies of Lamb waves. The influence of the graded properties on the variation of cut-off frequencies in three different kinds of models, including artificial FGM model, sub-surface damage model, and nano-porous thin film model, is discussed. These results provide theoretical guidance for characterizing the material property variations of MEMS/NEMS.