Correlation between surface stress and apparent Young's modulus of top-down silicon nanowires

In this work, we report experimental evidence of surface stress effects on the mechanical properties of silicon nanostructures. As-fabricated, top-down silicon nanowires (SiNWs) are bent up without any applied force. This self-buckling is related to the surface relaxation that reaches an equilibrium with bulk deformation due to the material elasticity. We measure the SiNW self-deformation by atomic force microscopy (AFM), and we apply a simple physical model in order to give an estimation of the surface stress. If the equilibrium is altered by a nanoforce, applied by an AFM tip, nanowires find a new equilibrium condition bending down (mechanical bistability). In this work, for the first time, we report a clear and quantitative relationship between the SiNWs' apparent Young's modulus, measured by force-deflection spectroscopy, and the estimated value of surface stress, obtained by self-buckling measurements taking into account the Young's modulus of bulk silicon. This is an experimental confirmation that the surface stress is fundamental in determining mechanical properties of SiNWs, and that the elastic behavior of nanostructures strongly depends on their surfaces.