An open-source platform to study uniaxial stress effects on nanoscale devices

Abstract

We present an automatic measurement platform that enables the characterization of nanodevices by electrical transport and optical spectroscopy as a function of uniaxial stress. We provide insights into and detailed descriptions of the mechanical device, the substrate design and fabrication, and the instrument control software, which is provided under open-source license. The capability of the platform is demonstrated by characterizing the piezo-resistance of an InAs nanowire device using a combination of electrical transport and Raman spectroscopy. The advantages of this measurement platform are highlighted by comparison with state-of-the-art piezo-resistance measurements in InAs nanowires. We envision that the systematic application of this methodology will provide new insights into the physics of nanoscale devices and novel materials for electronics, and thus contribute to the assessment of the potential of strain as a technology booster for nanoscale electronics.2

Manipulating Surface States of III–V Nanowires with Uniaxial Stress

“…Individual InAs nanowire devices like the one shown in Figure b are realized on the surface of a flexible substrate . Metal contacts to the device, fabricated by electron-beam lithography and lift-off technique, provide the electrical connection to the nanowire as well as the mechanical clamping to the substrate surface.…”

“…Individual InAs nanowire devices like the one shown in Figure 1b are realized on the surface of a flexible substrate. 62 Metal contacts to the device, fabricated by electronbeam lithography and lift-off technique, provide the electrical connection to the nanowire as well as the mechanical clamping to the substrate surface. The device is characterized by Raman spectroscopy and electrical transport while applying uniaxial stress, which is induced on the nanostructure by bending the substrate with a mechanical device sketched in Figure 1a.…”

In Situ Spectroscopic Study of the Optomechanical Properties of Evaporating Field Ion Emitters

“…The sawtooth profile is visible when the observation is performed along the polar [0001] direction (c-direction, z axis for the strain/stress tensors) [22]. The [11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20] adirection corresponds to the y axis for the strain/stress tensors. The orientation of the crystal is also visualized in Fig.…”

“…These experimental results can be interpreted through the theory of linear elasticity in semiconductors and through strain-dependent band theory [33]. While this theory has already proven to be useful in the study of nanowires [14,34], it has not been applied, so far, to field emitters which change shape during evaporation. This constitutes the object of the present section.…”

“…Strain engineering may be appropriate to the manipulation of energy bands, and can influence the optical signature of emitting or absorbing centers [8,9] and the electrical transport in semiconducting channels [10]. It may be applied either by a proper design of the nanoscale system, for instance exploiting lattice mismatch in heterostructures [9] or by an external action producing in a controlled way hydrostatic [11,12] or uniaxial stress [13,14].…”