This research is directed at the development of Electrostatic Actuated NAno Tensile testing devices (EANATs) for measuring mechanical properties of carbon nanowires, deposited by focused ion beam-assisted chemical vapor deposition (FIB-CVD) using phenanthrene gas. The EANATs were composed of the specimen part, actuator part and measurement part. 1000, 3000 and 5000 pairs of comb drive actuators were prepared within the actuator part for stretching the nanowires. The measurement part had a cantilever used as a lever motion amplification system for measuring tensile displacement of the nanowires. A theoretical resolution of 0.17 nm in tensile displacement was achieved using the amplification system and imaging analysis. The uniaxial tensile force was derived from the total spring constant of suspended beams built within the EANATs, with the theoretical resolutions ranging from 108 to 113 nN. This research was therefore successful in obtaining accurate load-displacement curves for carbon nanowires. The Young's modulus observed for the nanowires provided the scatter in absolute values ranging from 42.6 to 80.7 GPa. The fracture stress and strain of the nanowires exhibited larger values of 4.3 GPa and 0.08 strain, respectively. Discussion of the deformation behaviors and failure mechanisms of the nanowires is made from FE-SEM observations of the nanowires before and after tensile failure.[ 2006-0033]Index Terms-Carbon nanowire, electrostatic comb-drive actuator, focused ion beam-assisted chemical vapor deposition (FIB-CVD), fracture stress and deformation behavior, tensile test, Young's modulus.

This paper reports the piezoresistance effect of carbon nanowires (CNWs) deposited by focused ion-beam-assisted chemical vapor deposition (FIB-CVD) using phenanthrene gas for the development of novel nanomechanical sensors. CNWs with diameters ranging from 88 to 129 nm were fabricated on electrostatic actuated nano tensile testing devices (EANATs) by FIB-CVD. EANATs can stretch CNWs using electrostatic comb drive actuators, and simultaneously measure the uniaxial tensile load and elongation of CNWs using the lever motion amplification system integrated into the EANATs. The average Young's modulus and fracture stress obtained for the CNWs were 69.2 GPa and 6.2 GPa, respectively. The resistance change in the CNWs with increasing uniaxial tensile strain indicated that the total gauge factor of CNWs was 0.7 below a tensile strain of 4%, but changed to −0.9 above 4%. An electrical conduction model for CNWs proposed in this paper was able to explain the resistance change in the nanowires and predict that the gauge factor for only the hydrogenated amorphous carbon region of CNWs ranged from −27.8 to −56.8.

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This research develops Electrostatic Actuated NAno Tensile testing devices (EANATs) to evaluate mechanical and electrical properties of carbon nanowires fabricated by focus ion beam assisted chemical vapor deposition (FIB-CVD). This research measured I-V characteristics of carbon nanowires, with diameters ranging from 88 nm to 129 nm, under tensile loading in order to evaluate the gauge factor of nanowires. The averaged gauge factor of 0.7 is lower than that of hydrogenated amorphous C films. Discussion of the mechanical and electrical properties of the nanowires is made from scanning electron microscope-energy dispersive x-ray spectrometer (SEM-EDX) and scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM) observations.

This research develops Electrostatic Actuated u n o Tensile testing devices, which are named "EANAT" fiom the initial letter, in order to reveal mechanical properties of carbon nanowires deposited by focused ion beam assisted chemical vapor deposition (FIB-CVD). Nanometric carbon structures deposited by FIB-CVD are one of promising nanomaterials used for NEMS. In this research, mechanical properties of 85 nm-diametric carbon nanowires were evaluated using three types of EANAT containing electrostatic comb drive actuators from 1000 to 5000 pairs. Young's modulus of carbon nanowires averaged 80 GPa, which is close to reported values of ultra-thin diamond-like carbon films. The tensile strength of nanowires was also 6 GPa in average.

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