TY - JOUR A1 - Wollschläger, Nicole A1 - Tasdemir, Z. A1 - Häusler, Ines A1 - Leblebici, Y. A1 - Österle, Werner A1 - Alaca, B. E. T1 - Determination of the elastic behavior of silicon nanowires within a scanning electron microscope T2 - Journal of Nanomaterials N2 - Three-point bending tests were performed on double-anchored, <110> silicon nanowire samples inside a scanning electron microscope (SEM) via a micromanipulator equipped with a piezo-resistive force sensor. Representing the upper and lower boundaries achievable in a consistent manner, silicon nanowires with widths of 35 nm and 74 nm and a height of 168 nm were fabricated. The nanowires were obtained monolithically along with their 10-m-tall supports through a top-down fabrication approach involving a series of etching processes. Hence, no interface compliance was introduced between supports and nanowires. Exact nanowire dimensions and cross-sectional features were determined by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) following sample preparation through focused ion beam (FIB) machining. Conducting the experiments inside an SEM chamber further raised the opportunity of the direct observation of any deviation from ideal loading conditions such as twisting, which was taken into consideration in simulations. Measured force-displacement behavior was observed to exhibit close resemblance to simulation results obtained by finite element modeling, when the bulk value of 169 GPa was taken as the modulus of elasticity for <110> silicon. Hence, test results show neither any size effect nor evidence of residual stresses for the considered nanoscale objects. The increased effect of the native oxide with reduced nanowire dimensions was captured as well. Thus this very simple in-situ testing method was found to be an alternative to elaborate AFM measurements on geometrically formidable nanostructures. The results demonstrate the applicability of the developed fabrication approach to the incorporation of silicon nanowires in functional micromechanical devices. PB - Hindawi Publishing Corporation KW - Silicon nanowire KW - Elastic behavior KW - Scanning electron microscope KW - Mechanical properties PY - 2016 UR - https://opus4.kobv.de/opus4-bam/frontdoor/index/index/docId/37038 AN - OPUS4-37038 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-370383 VL - 2016 SP - Article 4905838, 1 EP - 6 AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany