Fig. 3: Experimental realization of the synthetic nano-kirigami with ultrahigh deformability.

a Flow chart for fabricating synthetic nano-kirigami by using ion beam irradiation (upward deformation). b-d Side-view SEM images of the fabricated upward nano-kirigami structures with spiral angles of θ = 180°, 270°, and 360°, respectively. e Schematic of fabricating the downward synthetic nano-kirigami structure with a spiral angle of 360° by using wet etching. f Side- and top-view SEM images of the fabricated downward nano-kirigami structure under the capillary force introduced by wet etching. g, h Measured deformation displacement and corresponding deformability extracted from the results in (b-d), respectively. i Cyclic AFM tests of the elastic deformation of the nano-kirigami structures. The structure with θ = 270° retains its original morphologies and mechanical properties after cyclic press/release of 1000 times at a frequency of 1 Hz and under a vertical displacement of over 100 nm. Insets, enlarged views of the tests at the beginning and ending stages.