Giant elasticity of photopolymer nanowires

Giant elasticity, reflected by a shear modulus three order smaller than seen in the bulk of the same materials, is found in polymer nanowires, which are prepared by two-photon polymerization into a shape of spring: geometry capable to magnify mechanical deformations. An approach intervening the competitive processes of dissolving and polymerization in the course of rinsing of written structures was proposed for continuously tuning the shear modulus and fixing them at desired level. These results not only reveal a characteristic of polymers when the material size enters into the regime of hundreds of nanometers but also indicate prospect polymer microelectromechanical system for biocompatible applications.