Modification of mechanical properties of silicon nanocantilevers by self-ion implantation

The modification of Young's modulus of silicon 3D nanostructures were studied using self-ion implantation at liquid nitrogen temperatures. The Young's modulus of the silicon nanostructres were produced by the implantation of nanoscale beams with Si ions at energies of 100 and 35 keV and dose of 1×10 ¹⁵ ions/cm ². It was observed that the Young's modulus of the bimaterial silicon nanostructures were 150.3 and the modulus of amorphous silicon nanostructures were 134.5 GPa. The results show that the fundamental mechanical properties of silicon nanocantilevers is controllably modified using self-ion implantation at nanometer scale.