Mechanical oscillation of kinked silicon nanowires: A natural nanoscale spring

JW Jiang and T Rabczuk, APPLIED PHYSICS LETTERS, 102, 123104 (2013).

DOI: 10.1063/1.4799029

We perform classical molecular dynamics simulations to demonstrate the application of kinked silicon nanowires (KSiNWs) as nanoscale springs. The spring-like oscillation in gigahertz frequency range is successfully actuated using a similar procedure as the actuation of a classical mass spring oscillator. We detect the spring-like mechanical oscillation and some other low-frequency oscillations by the energy spectrum analysis, where a dimensional crossover phenomenon is observed for the transverse mode in KSiNWs with decreasing aspect ratio. Our findings shed light on the elastic properties of the KSiNW and open a way for its application in nanomechanical devices. (C) 2013 American Institute of Physics. http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4799029

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