Young's modulus of ZnO nanobelts measured using atomic force microscopy and nanoindentation techniques

The bending Young's modulus of ZnO nanobelts was measured by performing three-point bending tests directly on individual nanobelts with an atomic force microscope (AFM). The surface-to-volume ratio has no effect on the bending Young's modulus of the ZnO nanobelts for surface-to-volume ratios ranging from 0.017 to 0.035 nm(2) nm(-3), with a belt size of 50-140 nm in thickness and 270-700 nm in width. The bending Young's modulus was measured to be 38.2 +/- 1.8 GPa, which is about 20% higher than the nanoindentation Young's modulus of 31.1 +/- 1.3 GPa. The ZnO nanobelts exhibit brittle fracture failure in bending but some plastic deformation in indentation.