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Elastic Modulus Of Amorphous Sio2 Nanowires, Hai Ni, Xiaodong Li, Hongsheng Gao

Faculty Publications

Amorphous SiO₂ nanowires with diameter ranging from 50 to 100 nm were synthesized using chemical vapor deposition(CVD) under an argon atmosphere at atmospheric pressure. Nanoscale three-point bending tests were performed directly on individual amorphous SiO₂ nanowires using an atomic force microscope (AFM).Elastic modulus of the amorphous SiO₂ nanowires was measured to be 76.6±7.2GPa, which is close to the reported value of the bulk SiO₂ and thermally grown SiO₂ thin films, but lower than that of plasma-enhanced CVD SiO₂ thin films. The amorphous SiO₂ nanowires exhibit brittle fracture failure in bending.