Analysis of static friction and elastic forces in a nanowire bent on a flat surface: A comparative study

•Manipulation of ZnO nanowires on silicon surface.•Original method for analysis of distributed static friction force between nanowire and flat surface.•Comparison of different methods for calculation of distributed static friction.

ZnO nanowires bent to a complex shape and held in place by static friction force from supporting flat surface are investigated experimentally and theoretically. The complex shapes are obtained by bending the nanowires inside a scanning electron microscope with a sharp tip attached to a nanopositioner. Several methods previously described in the literature are applied along with author's original method to calculate the distributed friction force and stored elastic energy in the nanowires from the bending profile. This comparative study evidences the importance of the usage of appropriate models for accurate analysis of the nanowires profile. It is demonstrated that incomplete models can lead up to an order of magnitude error in the calculated friction force for complex profiles.