Nanostructured Gold Thin Films: Young Modulus Measurement

We have uniformly coated the cantilever of an atomic force microscope (AFM) with gold thin films. These films are nanostructured with thickness going from 19 to 62 nm. The resonance frequencies of this cantilever have been measured, before and after the Au coatings. Taking into account these frequencies and the vibrating beam theory, we determined the Young modulus of the Au films, obtaining E 2 = 69.1 ± 2.6 GPa , i.e. about 12% lower than the respective bulk elastic modulus.