10.1021/acs.nanolett.5b01603.s001
Yujie Chen
Yujie
Chen
Qiang Gao
Qiang
Gao
Yanbo Wang
Yanbo
Wang
Xianghai An
Xianghai
An
Xiaozhou Liao
Xiaozhou
Liao
Yiu-Wing Mai
Yiu-Wing
Mai
H. Hoe Tan
H. Hoe
Tan
Jin Zou
Jin
Zou
Simon
P. Ringer
Simon
P.
Ringer
Chennupati Jagadish
Chennupati
Jagadish
Determination of Young’s Modulus of Ultrathin
Nanomaterials
American Chemical Society
2015
GaAs nanowires
crystal structure
Al 2O films
novel nanoscale material
nm range
Al 2O increases
nanoscale dimensions
modulu
25 nm
GaAs core
Ultrathin NanomaterialsDetermination
compression transmission electron microscopy
analysis methods
element analysis
5 nm
Al 2O
Al 2O shell
100 nm
2015-08-12 00:00:00
Media
https://acs.figshare.com/articles/media/Determination_of_Young_s_Modulus_of_Ultrathin_Nanomaterials/2141665
Determination of the elastic modulus
of nanostructures with sizes at several nm range is a challenge. In
this study, we designed an experiment to measure the elastic modulus
of amorphous Al<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> films with thicknesses varying
between 2 and 25 nm. The amorphous Al<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> was
in the form of a shell, wrapped around GaAs nanowires, thereby forming
an effective core/shell structure. The GaAs core comprised a single
crystal structure with a diameter of 100 nm. Combined in situ compression
transmission electron microscopy and finite element analysis were
used to evaluate the elastic modulus of the overall core/shell nanowires.
A core/shell model was applied to deconvolute the elastic modulus
of the Al<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> shell from the core. The results
indicate that the elastic modulus of amorphous Al<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> increases significantly when the thickness of the layer is
smaller than 5 nm. This novel nanoscale material can be attributed
to the reconstruction of the bonding at the surface of the material,
coupled with the increase of the surface-to-volume ratio with nanoscale
dimensions. Moreover, the experimental technique and analysis methods
presented in this study may be extended to measure the elastic modulus
of other materials with dimensions of just several nanometers.