Observation and characteristics of mechanical vibration in three-dimensional nanostructures and pillars grown by focused ion beam chemical vapor deposition

The Young’s modulus of diamond-like carbon (DLC) pillars was measured by means of mechanical vibration using scanning electron microscopy. The DLC pillars were grown using Ga+ focused ion beam-induced chemical vapor deposition with a precursor of phenanthrene vapor. The Young’s modulus of the DLC pillars was around 100 GPa at vapor pressure of 5×10−5 Pa and it had a quality (Q) value of resonance exceeding 1200. There seemed to be a balance between the DLC growth rate and surface bombardment by the ions, and this played an important role in the stiffness of the pillars. Some of the DLC pillars showed a very large Young’s modulus over 600 GPa at low gas pressure conditions.