Acoustic Modes and Elastic Properties of Polymeric Nanostructures

Published

October 21, 2005

Author(s)

R Hartschuh, A Kisliuk, V N. Novikov, Alexei Sokolov, Paul R. Heyliger, Colm Flannery, Ward L. Johnson, Christopher Soles, Wen-Li Wu

Abstract

Fabricating mechanically robust polymer structures with nanoscale dimensions is critical for a wide range of emerging technologies. The rigidity of such structures is expected to change as the feature sizes approach the characteristic dimensions of the macromolecules. There is uncertainty in how far this miniaturization can progress before size-dependent material properties compromise performance. However, there are very few experimental techniques to quantify the mechanical properties of such nanostructured materials.This Letter illustrates how Brillouin light scattering (BLS) can be used as a non-contacting metrology to characterize the elastic properties of nanostructures with lateral dimension smaller than 100 nm. Although our analysis shows no deviation from bulk-like properties in structures as small as 88 nm, it demonstrates the possibility of quantifying the elastic properties and their anisotropy in nanostructures using BLS. This metrology might have significant impact on characterization of nanostructures for numerous technologies including semiconductors, optical communications, and photonics.

Citation

Applied Physics Letters

Volume

87

Issue

17

Pub Type

Journals

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Keywords

brillouin light scattering, elastic modulus, lithography, mechanical properties, nanotechnology, phonons

Citation

Hartschuh, R. , Kisliuk, A. , Novikov, V. , Sokolov, A. , Heyliger, P. , Flannery, C. , Johnson, W. , Soles, C. and Wu, W. (2005), Acoustic Modes and Elastic Properties of Polymeric Nanostructures, Applied Physics Letters, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=852462 (Accessed October 6, 2024)