Abstract
New materials and nanostructures with superior electro-mechanical properties are emerging in the development of novel devices. Engineering application of these materials and nanostructures requires accurate mechanical characterization, which in turn requires development of novel experimental techniques. In this paper, we review some of the existing experimental techniques suitable to investigate the mechanics of one-dimensional (1D) nanostructures. Particular emphasis is placed on techniques that allow comparison of quantities measured in the tests with predictions arising from multiscale computer simulations on a one to one basis. We begin with an overview of major challenges in the mechanical characterization of 1D nanostructures, followed by a discussion of two distinct types of experimental techniques: nanoindentation/atomic force microscopy (AFM) and in-situ electron microscopy testing. We highlight a recently developed in-situ transmission and scanning electron microscopy testing technique, for investigating the mechanics of thin films and 1D nanostructures, based on microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) technology. We finally present the coupled field (electro and mechanical) characterization of a NEMS bistable switch in-situ a scanning electron microscope (SEM).
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 7-24 |
| Number of pages | 18 |
| Journal | Experimental Mechanics |
| Volume | 47 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Feb 2007 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Funding
Acknowledgments The authors acknowledge the support from the FAA through Award No. DTFA03-01-C-00031, ARO through Award No. W911NF-05-1-0088, and the NSF through awards No. CMS-0120866, DMR-0315561. Work was also supported in part by the Nanoscale Science and Engineering Initiative of the National Science Foundation under NSF Award Number EEC-0118025. SEM calibration and testing were performed at the EPIC facility of NUANCE center at North-western University. Nanomanipulation was carried out in the Center for Microanalysis of Materials, University of Illinois, which is partially supported by the U.S. Department of Energy under grant DEFG02-96-ER45439. We thank I. Petrov, J. Mabon and M. Marshall for many useful discussions and for facilitating the microscopy work reported in this manuscript.
Keywords
- Carbon nanotubes
- In-situ microscopy
- MEMS
- NEMS
- Nanomechanics
- Nanowires
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Aerospace Engineering
- Mechanics of Materials
- Mechanical Engineering