Probing nano-scale mechanical characteristics of individual semi-conducting nanobelts

Belt-like oxide nanostructures, so-called nanobelts, were successfully synthesized by evaporating ZnO or SnO2 powders at high temperatures without the presence of a catalyst. Morphology analysis shows the nanobelts have a rectangle-like cross-section with typical widths of several hundred nanometers, width-to-thickness ratios of 5-50, and lengths of hundreds of micro-meters. Nanoindentations were made on individual ZnO nanobelts by using AFM and Hysitron Triboscope indenters. It was shown that the indentation size effect was still obvious for the indentation depth under 50 nm.