NANOMECHANICS (Syllabus: GS Paper 3 - Sci & Tech)

Context:  A novel method to test nanomechanical properties of materials at very minute scales with high precision and accuracy has been developed by an Indian scientist in collaboration with two international institutions.

• Nanomechanics is that branch of nanoscience which deals with the study and application of fundamental mechanical properties of physical systems at the nanoscale, such as elastic, thermal and kinetic material properties.

Key Points

• The new method enables faster testing of mechanical strength of extremely small volumes of materials for a wide range of fields from medicine to space.
• The new methodology not only significantly improves the precision and accuracy of what is known as nanoindentation technique or testing of mechanical strength, but enables testing at much higher rates, thus facilitating high throughput.
• The technique has been widely used to measure the strength of semiconductor devices and structural materials that have ubiquitously penetrated every aspect of our daily life through electronic gadgets. 
• The technique has been used for a wide range of applications from identifying cancerous cells to establishing how meteorites are formed in deep space.