Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 19, 2026

Atomic Force Microscopy Cantilever-Based Nanoindentation: Mechanical Property Measurements at the Nanoscale in Air and Fluid
Published on: December 2, 2022
Quantum manifestation of elastic constants in nanofilms
1Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA.
Abstract:
Generally, there are two distinct effects in modifying the properties of low-dimensional nanostructures: surface effect (SE) due to increased surface-volume ratio and quantum size effect (QSE) due to quantum confinement in reduced dimension. The SE has been widely shown to affect the elastic constants and mechanical properties of nanostructures. Here, we demonstrate that QSE can also have a strong effect on the elastic constants of nanofilms from first-principles calculations. We conclude that generally QSE is dominant in affecting the elastic constants of metallic nanofilms while SE is more pronounced in semiconductor or insulator nanofilms. We also demonstrate that QSE affects the elastic constants of armchair graphene nanoribbons. Our findings have broad implications in quantum aspects of nanomechanics.
Related Concept Videos
Relation between Poisson's ratio, Modulus of Elasticity and Modulus of Rigidity
Strain and Elastic Modulus
Hooke's Law
IR Spectroscopy: Hooke's Law Approximation of Molecular Vibration
According to Hooke's law, the vibrational frequency is directly proportional to...
Elastic Strain Energy for Shearing Stresses
Elastic Strain Energy for Normal Stresses
If...

