  EuTiO3 (ETO) is a well-known complex oxide mainly investigated for its
magnetic properties and its incipient ferro-electricity. In this work, we
demonstrate the realization of suspended micro-mechanical structures, such as
cantilevers and micro-bridges, from 100 nm-thick single-crystal epitaxial ETO
films deposited on top of SrTiO3(100) substrates. By combining profile analysis
and resonance frequency measurements of these devices, we obtain the Young's
modulus, strain, and strain gradients of the ETO thin films. Moreover, we
investigate the ETO anti-ferro-distorsive transition by temperature-dependent
characterizations, which show a non-monotonic and hysteretic mechanical
response. Comparison between experimental and literature data allows us to
weight the contribution from thermal expansion and softening to the tuning
slope, while a full understanding of the origin of such a wide hysteresis is
still missing. We also discuss the influence of oxygen vacancies on the
reported mechanical properties by comparing stoichiometric and oxygen-deficient
samples.
