NEMS based on 3D Nanocoils

Many 3-D helical structures with micro- and nano-features have been synthesized from different materials. Typical examples include carbon micro-coils based on amorphous carbon (X.Q. Chen et al., Nano Lett. 3, 1299, 2003), carbon nanocoils based on carbon nanotubes (X.B. Zhang et al., Europhys. Lett. 27, 141, 1994), and zinc oxide nanobelts (P.X. Gao et al., Science 309, 1700, 2005). Recently, a new method of creating structures with nanometer-scale dimensions has been presented and can be fabricated in a controllable way (see Fig. 1). The high degree of precision with their shape/position, large compatibility with varied materials, their ultra-high flexibility (see Fig. 2) and their piezo-resistivity (see Fig. 3) indicate their potential as NEMS devices.

This project aims at developing electromechanical sensors based on three-dimensional helical nanostructures with nanoscale features. Nanomanipulation was conducted to probe the structures for mechanical and electrical characterization. The experimental characterization results were validated by finite element simulation results. We have demonstrated that the nanocoil can be applied as artificial bacterial flagella (L. Zhang et al., APL, 94, 064107, 2009, also see our microrobotics projects) and linear-to-rotary motion converters (L.X. Dong, et al., MEMS2008). The helical nanostructures presented are suitable for using as inductors, chemical and bio-sensors as well.