Abstract
Nanomaterials have attracted a great deal of research interest recently.
The small size of nanostructures constrains the applications of
well-established testing and measurement techniques, thus new methods and
approaches must be developed for quantitative measurement of the properties
of individual nanostructures. This article reports our progress in using in
situ transmission electron microscopy to measure the electrical, mechanical,
and field-emission properties of individual carbon nanotubes whose
microstructure is well-characterized. The bending modulus of a single carbon
nanotube has been measured by an electric field-induced resonance effect. A
nanobalance technique is demonstrated that can be applied to measure the
mass of a tiny particle as light as 22 fg (1 fg = 10−15
g), the smallest balance in the world. Quantum conductance was observed in
defect-free nanotubes, which led to the transport of a superhigh current
density at room temperature without heat dissipation. Finally, the
field-emission properties of a single carbon nanotube are observed, and the
field-induced structural damage is reported.