Note: Mechanical and electrical characterization of nanowires in scanning electron microscope

This note presents two experimental techniques for mechanical and electrical characterization of individual nanowires inside a scanning electron microscope (SEM). Tensile testing is realized by transferring a nanowire to a microelectromechanical systems device that stretches the nanowire and measures the elongations and tensile forces. The device consists of an electrostatic actuator and two capacitive sensors, capable of acquiring all measurement data (force and displacement) electronically without relying on electron microscopy imaging. For electrical characterization, four-point probe measurement of individual nanowires is performed automatically by controlling four nanomanipulators with SEM visual feedback. A feedforward controller is incorporated into the control system to improve the response time. This work represents advances in nanomaterial testing and automated nanomanipulation.