title: Mechanical behavior of nanocrystalline NaCl islands on Cu(111).
abstract: The mechanical response of ultrathin NaCl crystallites of nanometer dimensions upon manipulation with the tip of a scanning tunneling microscope (STM) is investigated, expanding STM manipulation to various nanostructuring modes of inorganic materials as cutting, moving, and cracking. In the light of theoretical calculations, our results reveal that atomic-scale NaCl islands can behave elastically and follow a classical Hooke's law. When the elastic limit of the nanocrystallites is reached, the STM tip induces atomic dislocations and consequently the regime of plastic deformation is entered. Our methodology is paving the way to understand the mechanical behavior and properties of other nanoscale materials.
authors.affiliation: Physics Department, Freie Universität Berlin, Arnimallee 14, 14195 Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Ch
authors.initials: Ch
authors.lastname: Bombis
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ample
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mielke
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mannsberger
authors.forename: C J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Villagómez
authors.forename: Ch
authors.initials: Ch
authors.lastname: Roth
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Joachim
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Grill