The Effects of Surface Stress and Long-Range Force on the Mechanics of Crystalline Plates of Nanoscale Thickness

Description

The current technique for measuring the change in surface stress at the solid-vacuum and solid-liquid interface is typically based on the bending of a thin crystalline plate. The crucial issue is to convert the measured data such as curvature or deflection into the change in surface stress with the help of elasticity theory. This project the researchers will develop accurate and explicit relations between the change in surface stress and the curvature of a crystalline plate with nanoscale thickness and arbitrary crystallographic symmetry. The outcome is expected to satisfy all relevant equations in elasticity and the boundary conditions in the sense of the Saint-Venant's principle. In addition, the researchers will also verify the accuracy of some existing results for the bending of free isotropic and cubic plates that is induced by surface stress based on kinetic assumptions in the derivation.