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NEMS based on Ring-Closed Nanostructures

Ring closure of rolled-up Si/Cr nanoribbons are fabricated on a Si (001) substrate. Interlayer bonding strengths are investigated by tangential unrolling and radial stretching using nanorobotic manipulation. Experimental results confirm that the multi-walled Si/Cr ring-closed nanoribbon can be considered physically closed structures and have strong interlayer bonding (see Fig. 1). The load versus deformation curve of ring-closed nanoribbon of varying ribbon widths reveals that the radial stiffness fulfills Hooke’s law for small deformations (see Fig. 2). The measured radial stiffness of the ring-closed nanoribbon is also comparable to that of ideal seamless rings. The excellent mechanical properties of these ring-closed nanostructures, the possibility of using different materials, and excellent compatibility with Si technology suggest that they are promising for MEMS/NEMS devices.

Currently, we are developing MEMS/NEMS devices based on these ring-closed nanostructures with collaboration of Dr. Maurizio’s group at CSEM.

Enlarged view: Ring closed nanoribbon
Fig. 1: SEM images showing the manipulator probe translating from left to right to unroll the Si/Cr ring-closed nanoribbon (w = 500 nm). The white arrow in (a) points to another ring-closed nanoribbon with a ribbon width of 1.1 nm.
Enlarged view: Ring-closed nanoribbon
Radial stiffness test of ind. Si/Cr ring-closed nanoribbon (35/10 nm). Series of FESEM imgs with increasing tensile load on Si/Cr ring-closed nanoribbon. Scale bar of 10 nm for FESEM imgs. Tensile load vs. deformation curve for radial stiffness test.