LAUSR

Reports reveal that piezoresistance coefficients of silicon carbide (SiC) nanowires (NWs) are two to four times smaller than that of their corresponding bulk counterparts. It is a challenge to eliminate contamination in adhering NWs onto substrates. In this study, a new setup was developed, in which NWs were manipulated and fixed by a goat hair and conductive silver epoxy in air, respectively, in the absent of any depositions. The goat hair was not consumed during manipulation of the NWs. The process took advantage of the stiffness and tapered tip of the goat hair, which is unlike the loss issue of beam sources in depositions. With the new fixing method, in-situ transmission electron microscopy (TEM) electromechanical coupling measurements were performed on pristine SiC NWs. The piezoresistance coefficient and carrier mobility of SiC NW are -94.78×10-11 Pa-1 and 30.05 cm2 V-1 s-1, respectively, which are 82 and 527 times respectively greater than those of SiC NWs reported previously. We, for the first time, report that the piezoresistance coefficient of SiC NW is 17 times that of its bulk counterparts. These findings provide new insights to develop high performance SiC devices, to help avoid catastrophic failure when working in harsh environments.