Nanometer-resolved mechanical properties around GaN crystal surface steps
The mechanical properties of surfaces and nanostructures deviate from their bulk counterparts due to surface stress and reduced dimensionality. Experimental indentation-based techniques present the challenge of measuring these effects, while avoiding artifacts caused by the measurement technique its...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Beilstein-Institut
2014-11-01
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| Series: | Beilstein Journal of Nanotechnology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3762/bjnano.5.225 |
| Summary: | The mechanical properties of surfaces and nanostructures deviate from their bulk counterparts due to surface stress and reduced dimensionality. Experimental indentation-based techniques present the challenge of measuring these effects, while avoiding artifacts caused by the measurement technique itself. We performed a molecular dynamics study to investigate the mechanical properties of a GaN step of only a few lattice constants step height and scrutinized its applicability to indentation experiments using a finite element approach (FEM). We show that the breakdown of half-space symmetry leads to an “artificial” reduction of the elastic properties of comparable lateral dimensions which overlays the effect of surface stress. Contact resonance atomic force microscopy (CR-AFM) was used to compare the simulation results with experiments. |
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| ISSN: | 2190-4286 |