Tensile Measurement of a Single Crystal Gallium Nitride Nanowire

This paper reports the first direct tensile test on a nearly defect free, n-type (Si-doped) GaN nanowire single crystal. Here, for the first time, nanowires have been integrated with actuated, active microelectromechanical (MEMS) structures using dielectrophoresis-driven self-assembly and Pt-C clamps created using a gallium focused ion beam. The nanowire modulus of elasticity is measured to be 201 GPa, and the nanowire demonstrated more than 4% elongation before one of the clamps failed. Failure of the test sample occurred at the interface of one of the Pt-C clamps with the fixed MEMS stage, rather than in the nanowire itself.