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Thin foils as essential parts of micro-electro-mechanical devices (MEMs)are dynamically loaded in a wide spectrum of frequencies ranging frommuch less than 1 Hz (i.e. almost monotonically strained by thermalfluctuations) up to the order of MHz (due to their use in very fast switches).For the design of MEMs in order to assure safe operation it is of increasingdemand to rely upon accurate fatigue data.In the present investigation the fatigue and fracture behaviour of freestanding foils in the thickness range of 20 ìm to 250 ìm has beendetermined.