research

We demonstrate, by theoretical analysis and molecular dynamics simulation, a mechanism for fabricating nanotubes by self-bending of nanofilms under intrinsic surface stress imbalance due to surface reconstruction. A freestanding Si nanofilm may spontaneously bend itself into a nanotube without external stress load, and a bilayer SiGe nanofilm may bend into a nanotube with Ge as the inner layer, opposite of the normal bending configuration defined by misfit strain.

Biasing reaction pathways with mechanical force, Charles R. Hickenboth, Jeffrey S. Moore, Scott R. White, Nancy R. Sottos, Jerome Baudry & Scott R. Wilson, Nature 446, 423-427 (22 March 2007).

Appl. Phys. Lett. 90, 133119 (2007)
Mechanics of Precisely Controlled Thin Film Buckling on Elastomeric Substrate

The molecular building blocks of a cell include:

What boundary conditions would allow failure to occur in the gauge length and not at or near the clamps? One is not allowed (in suggesting ways of overcoming stress concentation at the clamps) to create defects in the nanotube or nanowire, to configure the region where failure will occur.  Thus, it is not possible (or is it?)  to create an analog of dog-bone specimens by, e.g., milling away part of the nanowire with a focused ion beam, etc., because this creates defects in the nanowire.