FABRICATION AND MEASUREMENT OF SUSPENDED SILICON CARBIDE NANOWIRE DEVICES AND DEFLECTION

Abstract

In this paper, we report the measurement of the deflection of beta-SiC nanowires supported at both ends. Such wires hold promise as active elements in NEMS/MEMS devices. To ensure the stable mechanical clamping and electrical contacts between electrodes and nanowires, we have developed a method of metal deposition to improve the contacts. This method consists of multiple depositions at different angles in order to avoid the shadow effect and reduce the compressive residual stress. The improvement of the contacts was verified via SEM observation and electrical transport measurements. To suspend the nanowire, a dielectric layer underneath was removed, followed by critical point drying. The change of electrical resistance was measured when the suspended nanowires were deflected by either capillary forces arising from the surface tension or electrostatic forces.