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In-situ TEM mechanical characterization of nanowire in atomic scale using MEMS device

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Abstract

This paper presents an experimental method for atomic-scale observation of in situ transmission electron microscopy (TEM) tensile test using micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) actuator. A carefully designed and fabricated thermal actuator was applied in a standard double-tilt TEM holder to provide precisely controllable stretching process. To demonstrate the capabilities of the tensile testing system, some copper nanowires were stretched under a slowly force loading and in situ atomic resolution images were achieved. In addition, some faults releasing processes were observed during the tensile stretching and the corresponding strain–stress curve was calculated. The implemented actuator for atomic-scale observation can potentially have broad application to studies of nanoscale materials.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by National Basic Research Program of China (973 Program Nos. 2012CB934102), National Science and Technology Supporting Program granted (No. 2012BAJ11B01), Creative Research of National Natura Science Foundation of China (No. 61321492), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 91123037), and Shanghai Outstanding Academic leaders (No. 15XD1504300).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Science and Technology on Microsystem Laboratory, Shanghai Institute of Microsystem and Information Technology, Chinese Academy of Science, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China

    Xiao Zhang, Yang Yang, Tie Li & Yuelin Wang

  2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, People’s Republic of China

    Xiao Zhang & Yang Yang

  3. Analysis of Testing Center for Inorganic Materials, Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China

    Fangfang Xu

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  1. Xiao Zhang
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  2. Yang Yang
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  3. Fangfang Xu
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  4. Tie Li
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  5. Yuelin Wang
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Correspondence to Xiao Zhang.

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Zhang, X., Yang, Y., Xu, F. et al. In-situ TEM mechanical characterization of nanowire in atomic scale using MEMS device. Microsyst Technol 24, 2045–2049 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00542-017-3601-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00542-017-3601-8

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