Direct measurement of elastic modulus of InP nanowires with Scanning Probe Microscopy in PeakForce QNM mode

In this manuscript, we present the study of elastic properties of InP nanowires with help of scanning probe microscope in advanced PeakForce Tapping® regime. The measuring method was developed in order to investigate the Young's modulus of these cone-shaped structures with significant accuracy. The difference in InP elasticity for wurtzite phase and zinc- blende phase was revealed. It was shown that elastic modulus of InP nanowires significantly increases from 60 GPa to more than 100 GPa when diameter of a nanowire is reduced below 50 nm. The core-shell model for InP nanowire was used for the explanation of this effect.Peer reviewe