Nanomechanical characterization of ZnS nanobelts

Nanobelts are quasi-one-dimensional nanostructures with a high ratio of width to thickness and a thickness of several tens of nanometres. Their nanomechanical behaviour determines the applications in nanodevices and nanosystems. In this work, the nanomechanical deformation of ZnS nanobelts was characterized by nanoindentation. It is found that the contact stiffness is proportional to the indentation load, while there is no size effect on the elastic deformation of the ZnS nanobelts. Indentation-induced fracture in the nanoindentation of the ZnS nanobelts is observed, which provides a potential approach to nanomanipulate nanobelts for the fabrication of nanodevices.