Fabrication and Characterization of Patterned Single-Crystal Silicon Nanolines

B. Li, M. K. Kang, K. Lu, R. Huang, P. S. Ho, R. A. Allen, and M. W. Cresswell, Nano Letters 8, 92 -98 (2008). (Web Release Date: 07-Dec-2007; DOI: 10.1021/nl072144i)

This letter demonstrates a method to fabricate single-crystal Si nanolines, with rectangular cross sections and atomically flat sidewalls. The high quality of these nanolines leads to superb mechanical properties, with the strain to fracture measured by nanoindentation tests exceeding 8.5% for lines of 74 nm width. A large displacement burst before fracture was observed, which is attributed to a buckling mechanism. Numerical simulations show that the critical load for buckling depends on the friction at the contact surface.