Elastic strain engineering for unprecedented materials properties. (12th February 2014)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Li, Ju; Shan, Zhiwei; Ma, Evan
• Is Part Of: MRS bulletin. Volume 39:Number 2(2014:Feb.)
• Page Start: 108
• Page End: 114
• Publication Date: 2014-02-12
• Subjects: nanostructure, -- electronic structure, -- devices, -- microelectro-mechanical (MEMS), -- optoelectronic; Materials -- Periodicals; 620.11
• DOI: 10.1557/mrs.2014.3
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0883-7694

Abstract

Abstract: Abstract : "Smaller is stronger." Nanostructured materials such as thin films, nanowires, nanoparticles, bulk nanocomposites, and atomic sheets can withstand non-hydrostatic (e.g., tensile or shear) stresses up to a significant fraction of their ideal strength without inelastic relaxation by plasticity or fracture. Large elastic strains, up to ∼10%, can be generated by epitaxy or by external loading on small-volume or bulk-scale nanomaterials and can be spatially homogeneous or inhomogeneous. This leads to new possibilities for tuning the physical and chemical properties of a material, such as electronic, optical, magnetic, phononic, and catalytic properties, by varying the six-dimensional elastic strain as continuous variables. By controlling the elastic strain field statically or dynamically, a much larger parameter space opens up for optimizing the functional properties of materials, which gives new meaning to Richard Feynman's 1959 statement, "there's plenty of room at the bottom."