Probing nano-scale mechanical characteristics of individual semi-conducting nanobelts (original) (raw)

2005, Materials Science and Engineering: A

Quasi-one-dimensional (1D) solid nanostructures, such as nanobelts of semi-conducting oxides, have stimulated considerable interest for scientific research due to their importance in mesoscopic physics studies and their potential applications as nano-devices, nanocantilevers, nanoactuators and nanosensors. A key challenge to today's research is the experimental difficulty in fabricating, manipulating and testing the physical properties of a single nanowire/cantilever whose size is in the nano-to micro-meter range, because the small size (diameter and length) of the object prohibits the applications of the well-established testing techniques.