The Piezoresistive Effect in Top–Down Fabricated p-Type 3C-SiC Nanowires

This letter reports on the piezoresistive effect of top-down fabricated 3C-SiC nanowires (NWs). Focused ion beam was utilized to create p-type 3C-SiC NWs from a 3C-SiC thin film with a carrier concentration of 5 × 10 18 cm -3 epitaxially grown on a Si substrate. The as-fabricated NWs were then subjected to tensile strains varying from 0 to 280 με. Experimental data showed that the p-type 3C-SiC NWs possess a large gauge factor of 35, which is at least one order of magnitude larger than that of other hard materials, such as carbon nanotubes and graphene. This large gauge factor and the linear relationship between the relative resistance change and the applied strain in the SiC NWs indicate their potential for nanoelectromechanical systems sensing applications.