Young’s modulus of Sb2O3 micro- and nanowires determined accurately by a nanomanipulation-assisted thermal resonance method

Antimony trioxide (Sb2O3) micro- and nanomaterials have been widely used as a fire retardant, and are promising for fabricating high-performance cool materials and optoelectronic devices, but little is known on their mechanical properties. In this study, Young’s moduli of Sb2O3 micro- and nanowires grown via chemical vapor deposition are accurately determined by a nanomanipulation-assisted thermal resonance method. The Sb2O3 micro- and nanowires grow along the [001] direction and have irregular cross sections with thicknesses ranged from 87 to 238 nm and widths ranged from 168 to 549 nm. The measured Young modulus value is 92 ± 7 GPa, which is thickness independent and very close to the value of 89 GPa predicted using the first-principle calculations. The developed method can be extended for accurately measuring the Young’s modulus of any micro- and nanowire with irregular cross section.