The Elastic Property of Bulk Silicon Nanomaterials through an Atomic Simulation Method

Abstract

This paper reports a systematic study on the elastic property of bulk silicon nanomaterials using the atomic finite element method. The Tersoff-Brenner potential is used to describe the interaction between silicon atoms, and the atomic finite element method is constructed in a computational scheme similar to the continuum finite element method. Young's modulus and Poisson ratio are calculated for [100], [110], and [111] silicon nanowires that are treated as three-dimensional structures. It is found that the nanowire possesses the lowest Young's modulus along the [100] direction, while the [110] nanowire has the highest value with the same radius. The bending deformation of [100] silicon nanowire is also modeled, and the bending stiffness is calculated.