Mechanical characterization of epitaxially grown zinc oxide nanorods

► Highly ordered, uniform ZnO nanorod array for nanomechanical test. ► Bending test of single nanorods with a calibrated AFM tip in SEM. ► Non-uniform beam model for calculating composite geometry. ► Experimental bending modulus (36 GPa) is lower than bulk value (140 GPa). ► Load direction dependence is not found.