Nanomechanics of Covalent Crystals and Their Elastic Strain Engineering
Grant Data
Project Title
Nanomechanics of Covalent Crystals and Their Elastic Strain Engineering
Principal Investigator
Professor Lu, Yang
(Principal Investigator (PI))
Duration
60
Start Date
2021-01-01
Amount
3972483
Conference Title
Nanomechanics of Covalent Crystals and Their Elastic Strain Engineering
Keywords
Nanomechanics, Size effect, in situ Electron microscopy, Covalent crystals, Elastic strain engineering
Discipline
MaterialsNanomaterials
Panel
Engineering (E)
HKU Project Code
RFS2021-1S05
Grant Type
RGC Research Fellow Scheme
Funding Year
2020
Status
On-going
Objectives
1. Microfabrication of nanoscale covalent crystal samples with controlled geometries and crystalline structures, and developing corresponding in situ SEM/TEM nanomechanical characterization methodologies for studying their elasticity;
2. Quantifying the nanomechanical behaviors of several representative nanoscale covalent crystals (Ge, Si, diamond, cBN, SiC etc..) by in situ SEM testing; probing their elastic limit and understanding their plastic deformation mechanisms;
3. Exploring possible toughening mechanisms for nanostructured covalent crystals, by considering their potential nanomechanical and nano-composite applications;
4. Developing multi-physics coupled in situ nanomechanical characterization platform to quantitatively investigate the correlations between the atomic structure (scale and defects, etc.), mechanics (elastic strain, etc.) and electronic/optoelectronic properties (band structure, electron mobility, etc.) of nanoscale covalent crystals;
5. By developing robust microfabrication and device manufacturing techniques based on nanoscale covalent crystals, to realize novel functional device applications with reversible, quantitative, controllable strain control and electronic/optoelectronic property modulation via the concept of ""elastic strain engineering"".