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We study the electrothermal actuation of nanomechanical motion using a combination of numerical simulations and analytical solutions. The nanoelectrothermal actuator structure is a u-shaped gold nanoresistor that is patterned on the anchor of a doubly clamped nanomechanical beam or a microcantilever resonator. This design has been used in recent experiments successfully. In our finite-element analysis (FEA) based model, our input is an ac current; we first calculate the temperature oscillations due to Joule heating using Ohm's law and the heat equation; we then determine the thermally induced bending moment and the displacement profile of the beam by coupling the temperature field to Euler–Bernoulli beam theory with tension. Our model efficiently combines transient and frequency-domain analyses: we compute the temperature field using a transient approach and then impose this temperature field as a harmonic perturbation for determining the mechanical response in the frequency domain. This unique modeling method offers lower computational complexity and improved accuracy and is faster than a fully transient FEA approach. Our dynamical model computes the temperature and displacement fields in the time domain over a broad range of actuation frequencies and amplitudes. We validate the numerical results by directly comparing them with experimentally measured displacement amplitudes of nano-electro-mechanical system beams around their eigenmodes in vacuum. Our model predicts a thermal time constant of 1.9 ns in vacuum for our particular structures, indicating that electrothermal actuation is efficient up to ∼ 80 MHz. We also investigate the thermal response of the actuator when immersed in a variety of fluids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At high stress, the viscosity of a metallic glass is non-Newtonian, and therefore the rate of anelastic stress relaxation is not linear in the applied stress. In this regime, one can obtain information on the details of the activation volume that are not accessible in the linear regime. While bending in the nonlinear regime introduces a complicated stress state, it offers great stability for noninstrumented measurements over many orders of magnitude of time. We have developed a method of controlled sample bending to a strain of up to ∼0.0155 for Al86.8Ni3.7Y9.5 metallic glass. Significant nonlinearity of the anelastic strain in the stress was observed, which is mainly associated with the largest and slowest shear transformation zones involved not reaching mechanical equilibrium at the end of the constraining period. Combining nonlinear kinetics under constraint and zero bending moment after constraint removal, the volume of the largest shear transformation zones and the transformation shear strain were obtained independently for the inherent state—their most likely values are 4.8 × 10−28 m3 and 0.18, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We seek for novel electronic phenomena by using external strain engineering, namely, by the application of external uniaxial strain. A piezoelectric-based uniaxial strain cell has been recently developed by Hicks et al. and successfully utilized for studies of various unconventional superconductors. Here, we propose a modified design that minimizes effects originating from the asymmetry of the strain cell design, in particular with minimal bending moments, by placing the sample at the axis of mirror symmetry of the device to balance out the reactive forces. Results of finite element analyses indicate that placing the sample offset to the axis of the mirror symmetry indeed causes an increase of strain inhomogeneity up to 10%, both at room temperature and at 4.2 K. Furthermore, we found that this bending reduces the overall achievable strain down to 30% of its maximal value without the bending. We also experimentally demonstrate the potential of our constructed device by tracking the displacement of the anvils of the strain cell with a parallel plate capacitor. The full range of motion of the piezo-stacks were demonstrated at room temperature. With a sample and at 0.9 K, we achieved a uniaxial strain of − 1.5 %, which is enough to induce electronic change in typical materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Surfaces of homoepitaxially grown TiO2-terminated SrTiO3(001) were studied in situ with scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy. By controlling the Ti/Sr ratio, two-dimensional domains of highly ordered linear nanostructures, so-called “nanolines,” are found to form on the surface. To further study how the surface structure affects the band structure, spectroscopic studies of these surfaces were performed. Our results reveal significantly more band bending for surfaces with the nanolines, indicative of an acceptor state associated with these features. Additionally, an in-gap state is observed on nanoline surfaces grown under high oxygen deficient conditions. This state appears to be the same as that observed previously, arising from the (++/+) transition level of surface oxygen vacancies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A quasi-analytical solution on the minimum length and its corresponding system energy is proposed for the stable multi-layer folded graphene wrinkles (FGWs). The quasi-analytical solution shows that: (1) at a certain threshold height, a single-layer FGW becomes energetically favorable compared to a standing graphene wrinkle. (2) All the geometrical properties of single-layer FGW reproduce in the double-layer FGWs, which is considered as the typical configuration for predicting the multi-layer folded FGWs. (3) Parametric studies show that the increased bending stiffness per length promotes the minimum graphene length while the case is reversed for the increased adhesion energy density. Both of the increased bending stiffness per length and adhesion energy density lead to the decreased system energy for the stable folded structure, while the system energy is less sensitive to the variation of adhesion energy density compared to that of the bending stiffness per length. Besides, molecular mechanics simulation shows that the present model has high accuracy on evaluating the system energy and the configuration for multi-layer FGWs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Elastic and plastic strain evolution under four-point bending has been studied by synchrotron energy dispersive x-ray diffraction. Measured strain profiles across the specimen thickness showed an increasing linear elastic strain gradient under increasing four-point bending load up to ∼2 kN. The bulk elastic modulus of Ti–6Al–4V was determined as 118 GPa. The onset of plastic deformation was found to set in at a total in-plane strain of ∼0.008, both under tension and compression. Plastic deformation under bending is initiated in the vicinity of the surface and at a stress of 1100 MPa, and propagates inward, while a finite core region remains elastically deformed up to 3.67 kN loading. The onset of the plastic regime and the plastic regime itself has been verified by monitoring the line broadening of the (100) peak of α-Ti. The effective compression/tension stress-strain curve has been obtained from the scaling collapse of strain profile data taken at seven external load levels. A similar multiple load scaling collapse of the plastic strain variation has also been obtained. The level of precision in strain measurement reported herein was evaluated and found to be 1.5×10-5 or better. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microtubules (MTs) in living cells are frequently bend, e.g., with a mean curvature of about 0.4 rad/μm in fibroblast cells [Odde et al., J. Cell Sci. 112, 3283 (1999)]. This raises a natural question whether bending buckling can occur in a MT. In this paper, an orthotropic model is developed to investigate buckling of MTs upon bending and torsion. A critical buckling curvature for a bent MT is predicted to be about 0.03 rad/μm (to which the corresponding bending moment is 0.85 nN nm), indicating that MTs in living cells are likely buckled. Buckling behavior of torsional MTs is also studied, and a critical buckling torque of 0.077 nN nm is obtained. Comparison to the results from an isotropic model shows that anisotropic properties of the MT wall have severe effect on the mechanical behavior of MTs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phonon heat transport based on the Boltzmann transport equation (BTE) in a free standing, bent duct with characteristic dimension down to the nanoscale is investigated through the lattice Boltzmann (LB) method. Both the thermal excited transverse and longitudinal phonons are considered. The collision term in BTE is approximated by the relaxation time approximation. Both diffusive and specular phonon scatterings at duct surfaces are considered. An analytical expression for thermal conductivity suitable for an infinitely long, straight duct with constant properties is derived. Results show that the size effect depends strongly on the Knudsen number. For large Knudsen number, heat transport is mainly dominated by the ballistics that results in strong size effect, and vice versa. For the bent duct more phonons take the passageway near the inner corner of the bending region where higher local thermal conductivity is expected. Although the specular boundary scattering introduces no change in the bulk quantities for a straight duct, it, however, brings in the geometric influence as the duct is bent. Compared to the straight duct, the bent duct has the supremacy in conducting heat as the Knudsen number is small. Conversely the straight duct presents higher conductivity when the Knudsen number is large. By the present LB method, jumps in macroscopic quantities, occurring at boundary and wall surface, can be calculated naturally and straightforwardly. © 2004 American Institute of Physics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deals with a study which developed a model for the effect of the presence of photogenerated electron-hole pairs on the optically induced mechanical moment in a silicon cantilever beam. Bending moment by electronic strain; Direct thermally induced bending moment; Experimental details.

Examines the properties of a-C:H films deposited by plasma decomposition of C[sub2]H[sub2]. Density by Rutherford backscattering; Total concentration of hydrogen by elastic recoil detection; Description of the internal stress by the bending beam method.