A New Algorithm for Measuring the Young’s Modulus of Suspended Nanoobjects by the Bending-Based Test Method of Atomic Force Microscopy

Abstract

Atomic force microscopy is a unique technique for probing the mechanical properties of nanostructures. Using the bending-based test method, one can measure the Young’s modulus of the material of a suspended object, a nanobridge. This article presents a new, improved version of the bending-based test method. A special algorithm is elaborated to establish the nanobridge span length and to identify the boundary conditions of the nanobridge fixation. In particular, to realize this algorithm we propose a model of the beam with transformable boundary conditions (between clamped and supported beam model cases) varied by the only fitting parameter. To illustrate the main features of the developed bending-based test method application, the Young’s modulus measurements of mineral chrysotile nanoscrolls, forming the nanobridges across the pores of a track membrane, are presented.