Mechanical properties of silicon nanobeams with undercut evaluated by combining dynamic resonance test and finite element analysis

Mechanical properties of silicon nanobeams are of prime importance in nanoelectromechanical system applications. A numerical experimental method of determining resonant frequencies and Young's modulus of nanobeams by combining finite element analysis and frequency response tests based on an electrostatic excitation and visual detection by laser Doppler vibrometer is presented in this paper. Silicon nanobeams test structures are fabricated from silicon-on-insulator wafers by using a standard lithography and anisotropic wet etching release process, which inevitably generates the undercut of the nanobeam clamping. In conjunction with three-dimensional finite element numerical simulations incorporating the geometric undercut, dynamic resonance tests reveal that the undercut significantly reduces resonant frequencies of nanobeams due to the fact that it effectively increases the nanobeam length by a correct value Δ L, which is a key parameter that is correlated with deviations in the resonant frequencies predicted from the ideal Euler-Bernoulli beam theory and experimentally measured data. By using a least-square fit expression including Δ L, we finally extract Young's modulus from the measured resonance frequency versus effective length dependency and find that Young's modulus of silicon nanobeam with 200-nm thickness is close to that of bulk silicon. This result supports that the finite size effect due to surface effect does not play a role in mechanical elastic behaviour of silicon nanobeams with the thickness larger than 200 nm.     

Mechanical properties an undercut evaluated resonance test and of silicon nanobeams with by combining the dynamic finite element analysis

Mechanical properties of silicon nanobeams are of prime importance in nanoelectromechanical system applications. A numerical experimental method of determining resonant frequencies and Young＇s modulus of nanobeams by combining finite element analysis and frequency response tests based on an electrostatic excitation and visual detection by using a laser Doppler vibrometer is presented in this paper. Silicon nanobeam test structures are fabricated from silicon-oninsulator wafers by using a standard lithography and anisotropic wet etching release process, which inevitably generates the undercut of the nanobeam clamping. In conjunction with three-dimensional finite element numerical simulations incorporating the geometric undercut, dynamic resonance tests reveal that the undercut significantly reduces resonant frequencies of nanobeams due to the fact that it effectively increases the nanobeam length by a correct value △L, which is a key parameter that is correlated with deviations in the resonant frequencies predicted from the ideal Euler-Bernoulli beam theory and experimentally measured data. By using a least-square fit expression including △L, we finally extract Young＇s modulus from the measured resonance frequency versus effective length dependency and find that Young＇s modulus of a silicon nanobeam with 200-nm thickness is close to that of bulk silicon. This result supports that the finite size effect due to the surface effect does not play a role in the mechanical elastic behaviour of silicon nanobeams with thickness larger than 200 nm.     

Wave propagation in magneto-electro-elastic nanobeams via two nonlocal beam models

This paper makes the first attempt to investigate the dispersion behavior of waves in magneto-electro-elastic (MEE) nanobeams. The Euler nanobeam model and Timoshenko nanobeam model are developed in the formulation based on the nonlocal theory. By using the Hamilton’s principle, we derive the governing equations which are then solved analytically to obtain the dispersion relations of MEE nanobeams. Results are presented to highlight the influences of the thermo-electro-magnetic loadings and nonlocal parameter on the wave propagation characteristics of MEE nanobeams. It is found that the thermo-electro-magnetic loadings can lead to the occurrence of the cut-off wave number below which the wave can’t propagate in MEE nanobeams.     

Size effect of the elastic modulus of rectangular nanobeams:Surface elasticity effect

The size-dependent elastic property of rectangular nanobeams （nanowires or nanoplates） induced by the surface elas- ticity effect is investigated by using a developed modified core-shell model. The effect of surface elasticity on the elastic modulus of nanobeams can be characterized by two surface related parameters, i.e., inhomogeneous degree constant and surface layer thickness. The analytical results show that the elastic modulus of the rectangular nanobeam exhibits a distinct size effect when its characteristic size reduces below 1 O0 nm. It is also found that the theoretical results calculated by a mod- ified core-shell model have more obvious advantages than those by other models （core-shell model and core-surface model） by comparing them with relevant experimental measurements and computational results, especially when the dimensions of nanostructures reduce to a few tens of nanometers.     

Effect of native oxides on the elasticity of a silicon nano-scale beam

Native oxide is usually formed during the fabrication of silicon beams. A model is developed to describe the effect of native oxide on the elastic modulus of the silicon nano-beam based on the semi-continuum method. The model predicts that Young’s modulus of the nano-beam with native oxide increases as the nano-beam thickness decreases while it exhibits opposite behavior without native oxide. Native oxide dominates the beam with its scaling down to several nanometers. Young’s moduli are in the range from 123 GPa to 190 GPa when the thickness is several nanometers, and they approach the bulk value when the thickness is greater than about 500nm.     

Propagation of waves in nonlocal porous multi-phase nanocrystalline nanobeams under longitudinal magnetic field

ABSTRACT

This article investigates wave propagation behavior of a multi-phase nanocrystalline nanobeam subjected to a longitudinal magnetic field in the framework of nonlocal couple stress and surface elasticity theories. In this model, the essential measures to describe the real material structure of nanocrystalline nanobeams and the size effects were incorporated. This non-classical nanobeam model contains couple stress effect to capture grains micro-rotations. Moreover, the nonlocal elasticity theory is employed to study the nonlocal and long-range interactions between the particles. The present model can degenerate into the classical model if the nonlocal parameter, couple stress and surface effects are omitted. Hamilton’s principle is employed to derive the governing equations which are solved by applying an analytical method. The frequencies are compared with those of nonlocal and couple stress-based beams. It is showed that wave frequencies and phase velocities of a nanocrystalline nanobeam depend on the grain size, grain rotations, porosities, interface, magnetic field, surface effect and nonlocality.     

Scale-dependent effects on wave propagation in magnetically affected single/double-layered compositionally graded nanosize beams

This article deals with the wave propagation analysis of single/double layered functionally graded (FG) size-dependent nanobeams in elastic medium and subjected to a longitudinal magnetic field employing nonlocal elasticity theory. Material properties of nanobeam change gradually according to the sigmoid function. Applying an analytical solution, the acoustical and optical dispersion relations are explored for various wave number, nonlocality parameter, material composition, elastic foundation constants, and magnetic field intensity. It is found that frequency and phase velocity of waves propagating in S-FGM nanobeam are significantly affected by these parameters. Also, presence of cut-off and escape frequencies in wave propagation analysis of embedded S-FGM nanobeams is investigated.     

Young’s modulus and internal friction of the SiC/Si biomorphic composite based on the sapele wood precursor

The effect of the vibrational strain amplitude on the Young’s modulus and ultrasound absorption (internal friction) of a SiC/Si biomorphic composite prepared by pyrolysis of sapele wood followed by infiltration of silicon were investigated. The studies were conducted in air and in vacuum by the acoustic resonance method with the use of a composite vibrator in longitudinal vibrations at frequencies of about 100 kHz. Measurements performed on sapele wood-based bio-SiC/Si samples revealed a substantial effect of adsorption-desorption of molecules contained in air on the effective elasticity modulus and elastic vibration decrement. Microplastic characteristics of the SiC/Si composites prepared from wood of different tree species were compared.     

掺杂硅纳米梁谐振频率的理论模型及分子动力学模拟

通过理论计算与模拟,研究分析了P元素替代掺杂单晶硅纳米梁的谐振频率.计算模拟了两端固支单晶硅纳米梁的谐振频率随尺寸、掺杂浓度与温度的变化.通过对计算结果与模拟结果的分析得到:单晶硅纳米梁的谐振频率随着硅纳米梁长度尺寸的增大而减小;硅纳米梁的谐振频率随着掺杂浓度的增大而增大,但变化趋势并不明显;最后考虑了温度效应,发现掺杂硅纳米梁的谐振频率随着温度的增大而减小,但从谐振频率的数值来看,硅梁的谐振频率随温度的变化趋势并不明显,即温度对硅梁谐振频率基本无影响.由此得出结论:掺杂浓度与温度对硅纳米梁谐振频率的影响很小,影响单晶硅纳米梁谐振频率的主要因素是尺寸大小,掺杂单晶硅纳米梁的谐振频率具有尺寸效应.     

Surface effect on buckling configuration of nanobeams containing internal flowing fluid: A nonlinear analysis

In this paper, the post-buckling behavior of supported nanobeams containing internal flowing fluid with two surface layers is studied based on a nonlinear theoretical model. The nonlinear governing equation, in which the surface effect and stretching-related nonlinearity are accounted for, is analytically solved for both clamped-clamped and pinned-pinned systems. The effects of nanobeam length, bulk thickness and several dimensionless parameters on the post-buckling behavior are analyzed. It is found that, the nanobeam with low flow velocity is stable at its original static equilibrium position and then undergoes a buckling instability at a critical flow velocity, which depends on the system parameters. When buckled, in all cases, the amplitude of the resultant buckling increases with the increasing flow velocity. Typically, the surface effect is explored by considering different nanobeam lengths and bulk thicknesses. The buckling amplitude is found to be length-dependent and thickness-dependent, showing that the effect of surface layers is considerably strong.     

Elastic and inelastic properties of SiC/Si biomorphic composites and biomorphic SiC based on oak and eucalyptus

This paper reports on the results of a comparative investigation into the elastic and microplastic properties of biomorphic SiC/Si composites and biomorphic SiC prepared by pyrolysis of oak and eucalyptus with subsequent infiltration of molten silicon into a carbon matrix and additional chemical treatment to remove excess silicon. The acoustic studies were performed by the composite oscillator technique using resonant longitudinal vibrations at frequencies of about 100 kHz. It is shown that, in biomorphic SiC (as in biomorphic SiC/Si) at small-amplitude strains ε, adsorption and desorption of the environmental (air) molecules determine to a considerable extent the Young’s modulus E and the internal friction (decrement of acoustic vibrations δ) and that the changes in E and δ at these amplitudes are irreversible. The stress-microplastic strain curves are constructed from the acoustic data for the materials under study at temperatures of 100 and 290 K.     

Elasticity and inelasticity of the SiC/Al-13Si-9Mg biomorphic metal ceramics

The acoustic investigations of the elastic (Young’s modulus) and microplastic properties of a composite material, the SiC/Al-13Si-9Mg biomorphic metal ceramic, were performed. The ceramic was prepared by infiltration of the Al-13Si-9Mg melt into porous silicon carbide derived from wood of two species of trees, beech and sapele. The measurements were performed with a composite piezoelectric vibrator under resonance conditions, with rod-shaped samples vibrated longitudinally at about 100 kHz over a wide range of vibrational strain amplitudes, which included both the linear (amplitude-independent) and nonlinear (microplastic) regions. It was shown that the Young’s modulus and the microplastic properties of the composite are anisotropic and depend substantially on the tree species, particularly when longitudinal vibrations are excited in samples cut along the tree fibers.     

Surface effect on the nonlinear forced vibration of cantilevered nanobeams

The nonlinear forced vibration behavior of a cantilevered nanobeam is investigated in this paper, essentially considering the effect due to the surface elastic layer. The governing equation of motion for the nano-cantilever is derived, with consideration of the geometrical nonlinearity and the effects of additional flexural rigidity and residual stress of the surface layer. Then, the nonlinear partial differential equation (PDE) is discretized into a set of nonlinear ordinary differential equations (ODEs) by means of the Galerkin’s technique. It is observed that surface effects on the natural frequency of the nanobeam is of significance, especially for the case when the aspect ratio of the nanobeam is large. The nonlinear resonant dynamics of the nanobeam system is evaluated by varying the excitation frequency around the fundamental resonance, showing that the nanobeam would display hardening-type behavior and hence the frequency-response curves bend to the right in the presence of positive residual surface stress. However, with the negative residual surface stress, this hardening-type behavior can be shifted to a softening-type one which becomes even more evident with increase of the aspect ratio parameter. It is also demonstrated that the combined effects of the residual stress and aspect ratio on the maximum amplitude of the nanobeam may be pronounced.     

Analysis on vibration characteristics of large-size rectangular piezoelectric composite plate based on quasi-periodic phononic crystal structure

Based on the theory of composite materials and phononic crystals (PCs), a large-size rectangular piezoelectric composite plate with the quasi-periodic PC structure composed of PZT-4 and epoxy is proposed in this paper. This PC structure can suppress the transverse vibration of the piezoelectric composite plate so that the thickness mode is purer and the thickness vibration amplitude is more uniform. Firstly, the vibration of the model is analyzed theoretically, the electromechanical equivalent circuit diagram of three-dimensional coupled vibration is established, and the resonance frequency equation is derived. The effects of the length, width, and thickness of the piezoelectric composite plate at the resonant frequency are obtained by the analytical method and the finite element method, the effective electromechanical coupling coefficient is also analyzed. The results show that the resonant frequency can be changed regularly and the electromechanical conversion can be improved by adjusting the size of the rectangular piezoelectric plate. The effect of the volume fraction of the scatterer on the resonant frequency in the thickness direction is studied by the finite element method. The band gap in X and Y directions of large-size rectangular piezoelectric plate with quasi-periodic PC structures are calculated. The results show that the theoretical results are in good agreement with the simulation results. When the resonance frequency is in the band gap, the decoupling phenomenon occurs, and then the vibration mode in the thickness direction is purer.     

黏弹性材料的动态力学特性及其对覆盖层吸声性能的影响

本文利用标准化动态力学测量手段获得了某种高分子聚合物的动态杨氏模量,并根据时温等效原理对动态杨氏模量与声学测量在频段上的差异加以分析和转换,得到了500—7500 Hz频率范围内该黏弹性材料杨氏模量随频率变化的特性.基于所测得动态杨氏模量,采用有限元方法分析了均匀黏弹材料的吸声性能,并将仿真结果与样品声管实验数据进行对比,验证了测试所得参数的准确性.进一步仿真分析了含有局域共振结构的声学覆盖层吸声性能,并讨论了黏弹性材料的动态特性对其吸声性能的影响,提出了改进水声覆盖层低频宽带吸声特性的建议.     

Experimental measurements on transverse vibration characteristics of piezoceramic rectangular plates by optical methods

This study provides two non-contact optical techniques to investigate the transverse vibration characteristics of piezoceramic rectangular plates in resonance. These methods, including the amplitude-fluctuation electronic speckle pattern interferometry (AF-ESPI) and laser Doppler vibrometer (LDV), are full-field measurement for AF-ESPI and point-wise displacement measurement for LDV, respectively. The edges of these piezoceramic rectangular plates may either be fixed or free. Both resonant frequencies and mode shapes of vibrating piezoceramic plates can be obtained simultaneously by AF-ESPI. Excellent quality of the interferometric fringe patterns for the mode shapes is obtained. In the LDV system, a built-in dynamic signal analyzer (DSA) composed of DSA software and a plug-in waveform generator board can provide the piezoceramic plates with the swept-sine excitation signal, whose gain at corresponding frequencies is analyzed by the DSA software. The peaks appeared in the frequency response curve are resonant frequencies. In addition to these optical methods, the numerical computation based on the finite element analysis is used to verify the experimental results. Good agreements of the mode shapes and resonant frequencies are obtained for experimental and numerical results.     

光激光拾谐振法确定硅微机械薄膜的杨氏弹性模量

提出了一种采用光热激励和光拾取的全光谐振技术方法,确定硅微机械薄膜的杨氏弹性模量.该方法基于光热激励的致动机理,使用调制光对硅微机械薄膜结构进行光热激励使之谐振,利用光纤传感技术拾取其谐振频率信号,进而利用谐振理论模型确定其杨氏弹性模量.为准确确定杨氏弹性模量,利用了硅微薄膜结构的前三阶谐振频率进行多次测量,求均值的方法.为简化光激励测试系统,设计了新颖结构的单光源激励测试系统,同时实现了对微机械薄膜结构的激振和信号拾取.     

Analytical modeling for the determination of nonlocal resonance frequencies of perforated nanobeams subjected to temperature-induced loads

This paper is concerned with the investigation of thermal loads and small scale effects on free dynamics vibration of slender simply-supported nanobeams perforated with periodic square holes network and subjected to temperature-induced loads. The Euler–Bernoulli beam model (EBM) and shear beam model (SBM) developed for the determination of resonance frequency are derived by modifying the standard Timoshenko beam equations. The small scale effect is included by using the Eringen's nonlocal elasticity theory while the thermal loads effect is included by considering the additional axial thermal force in the standard differential equations. Numerical results are shown that the resonance frequency change, the thermal loads and the small scale effects are depended on size and number of holes. Thus, numerical results are discussed in detail for a properly investigation of the dynamic behavior of perforated nanobeams which are of interest in the development of resonant devices integrated in micro/nanoelectromichanical systems (M(N)EMS).     

New Insights on the Deflection and Internal Forces of a Bending Nanobeam

Nanowires, nanofibers and nanotubes have been widely used as the building blocks in micro/nano-electromechanical systems,energy harvesting or storage devices,and small-scaled measurement equipment. We report that the surface effects of these nanobeams have a great impact on their deflection and internal forces. A simply supported nanobeam is taken as an example. For the displacement and shear force of the nanobeam, its dangerous sections are different from those predicted by the conventional beam theory, but for the bending moment, the dangerous section is the same. Moreover, the values of these three quantities for the nanobeam are all distinct from those calculated from the conventional beam model. These analyses shed new light on the stiffness and strength check of nanobeams, which are beneficial to engineer new-types of nano-materials and nano-devices.