In-situ TEM mechanical testing of InAs nanowires

Recently, it became possible to measure the elastic properties of nanostructures by in-situ Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM). The characteristic elastic quantities have already been implemented by several methods, such as electromechanical resonance, nanoindentation, tensile stress, bending and buckling testing. In this study we used the ''bending method'' on InAs nanowires to obtain the bending modulus as the combination of shear and Young's modules by directly imaging the bending curvature in the TEM. The Metal Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition method was used to grow InAs nanowires on InAs (100) substrate from catalyst Au nanoparticles. Scratched and dispersed nanowires were preliminary aligned on standard TEM-grids using dielectrophoresis. A special Atomic Force Microscope in a TEM (AFM-TEM) sample holder was used to study the dependence of the mechanical properties of the nanowires on their diameter, growth direction, atomic structure and the presence of defects.