Mechanical characteristics of nanoscale springs

A commercial FEA software ALGOR® was used to model the nanosprings. In order to compare with the experimental measurements, the silicon monoxide (SiO) was selected as the material for all nanosprings. As such, two types of nanosprings with square and round helical configurations were modeled. It was found that by the combined effects of the square configuration and the symmetric boundary condition, one can achieve the maximized spring stiffness in a square spring at a rising angle of 30°.