Abstract
Atomic force microscope‐(AFM‐) based indentation tests were performed to examine mechanical properties of parallel single‐crystal silicon nanolines (SiNLs) of sub‐100‐nm line width, fabricated by a process combining electron‐beam lithography and anisotropic wet etching. The SiNLs have straight and nearly atomically flat sidewalls, and the cross section is almost perfectly rectangular with uniform width and height along the longitudinal direction. The measured load‐displacement curves from the indentation tests show an instability with large displacement bursts at a critical load ranging from 480 μN to 700 μN. This phenomenon is attributed to a transition of the buckling mode of the SiNLs under indentation. Using a set of finite element models with postbuckling analyses, we analyze the indentation‐induced buckling modes and investigate the effects of tip location, contact friction, and substrate deformation on the critical load of mode transition. The results demonstrate a unique approach for the study of nanomaterials and patterned nanostructures via a combination of experiments and modeling.
Highlights
Silicon (Si)-based nanomaterials [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9] have drawn much attentionrecently due to continual miniaturization of semiconductor devices in microelectronics and development of nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMSs)
One of the persisting challenges for practical applications of nanomaterials has been the measurement of their mechanical properties, which as well known can be different from their counterparts of bulk materials
We focus on the critical load for the onset of the displacement burst, for which the static analysis of the present model suffices
Summary
Silicon (Si)-based nanomaterials [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9] have drawn much attentionrecently due to continual miniaturization of semiconductor devices in microelectronics and development of nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMSs). We carry out nanoindentation experiments to characterize the mechanical properties of single-crystal Si nanolines (SiNLs). These SiNLs are fabricated by a process combining electron beam lithography (EBL) and anisotropic wet etching [25, 26]. They have atomically flat sidewalls and almost perfectly rectangular cross sections. The results demonstrate a potential methodology to study buckling, friction, and fracture of nanomaterials through a combination of experiments and modeling
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