[10p-Z06-1~19] 6.6 Probe Microscopy

▲ [10p-Z06-9] Atomic scale mechanics measured by TEM holder combined with a frequency-modulation force sensor

〇(D)Jiaqi Zhang¹, Keisuke Ishizuka¹, Masahiko Tomitori¹, Toyoko Arai², Yoshifumi Oshima¹ (1.JAIST, 2.Kanazawa Univ.)

Keywords:TEM, mechanical properties, atomic chain

Metal nanocontacts are regarded as the important building blocks for a broad range of potential applications since they exhibit specific physical or chemical properties due to surface effect, quantum confinement effect and so on. The mechanical property of metal nanocontacts is one of important issues for improving the performance of the related switching device ^[1,2]. By theoretical calculation approach, the young’s modulus of metal nanocrystal is predicted to be different from the one of bulk crystal, especially when the size of the nanowire reduced to below 2 nm, but it has not been experimentally clarified yet. In this study, for measure the effective spring constant of Pt atomic chain, we measured the mechanical properties of Pt nanocontacts by a transmission electron microscope (TEM) combined with a frequency-modulation force sensing system, which was used for non-contact atomic force microscopy.
The Pt NC having a conductance of 18.4 G₀ had a spring constant of 72.3 N/m. Also, we found that the single atom Pt chain had electrical conductance of ~1.7 G₀ and equivalent spring constant of 13.2 N/m before breaking^[3]. Pauly et al reported the relationship between displacement and loading force for very thin metal nanowires^[4] and theoretically estimated the spring constant of a Pt atom chain to be approximately 10 N/m . Therefore, our spring constant appears reasonable.