Abstract
In this article, the fabrication of SON (Silicon on Nothing) nanowires by means of FIB (Focused Ion Beam) fabrication and the size effect on the mechanical properties are described. We designed the on-chip tensile testing device, which consists of a nanowire specimen, an electrostatic actuator for stretching the specimen, and two sets of capacitance sensors for measuring the tensile displacement. A theoretical resolution of 1 nm in tensile displacement measurement was achieved. The uniaxial tensile force was derived from the spring constant of suspended beams with theoretical resolution of 15 nN. After fabricating SON nanowire specimen using FIB, the tensile test was carried out. The Young's modulus was measured to be 168.8 GPa, which is close to the ideal value of SCS (001)[110]. The tensile strength was 8.3 GPa, indicating that there was a size effect on the strength.
