Young's modulus measurements of silicon nanostructures using a scanning probe system: a non-destructive evaluation approach

Nanomechanical silicon cantilever beam test structures were fabricated from silicon-on-insulator wafers using electron beam lithography. A scanning probe system in the form of an atomic force microscope was used to measure their mechanical properties in a non-destructive evaluation approach. It is important to note that, despite the nanometer size of the silicon cantilever beams in the [100] direction, Young's modulus remained unchanged from the bulk value: 179 GPa. We believe that the fabrication processes did not induce any major structural modifications to the basic building blocks of silicon. Hence the Young's modulus was measured to be the same as that of the bulk silicon, which is important for designing predictable structures at nanometer scale.