Patent ID: 8434370

Claim:
A micromachined or microelectromechanical system (MEMS) based push-to-pull mechanical transformer for tensile testing of micro-to-nanometer scale material samples comprising: a first structure; a second structure coupled to the first structure by at least one flexible element that enables the second structure to be moveable relative to the first structure, wherein the second structure is disposed relative to the first structure so as to form a pulling gap between the first and second structures such that when an external pushing force is applied to and pushes the second structure in a tensile extension direction a width of the pulling gap increases so as to apply a tensile force to a test sample mounted across the pulling gap between a first sample mounting area on the first structure and a second sample mounting area on the second structure, wherein the at least one flexible element is configured to compress when the external pushing force is applied to and pushes the second structure in the tensile extension direction.