Related papers: Acoustic modes in metallic nanoparticles: atomisti…
Molecular dynamics simulations are used to study contact between a rigid, nonadhesive, spherical tip with radius of order 30nm and a flat elastic substrate covered with a fluid monolayer of adsorbed chain molecules. Previous studies of bare…
The existence of anharmonic localization of lattice vibrations in a perfect 3-D diatomic ionic crystal is established for the rigid-ion model by molecular dynamics simulations. For a realistic set of NaI potential parameters, an intrinsic…
The determination of particle size by dynamic light scattering uses the Stokes-Einstein relation, which can break down for nanoscale objects. Here we employ a molecular dynamics simulation of fully solvated 1-5 nm carbon nanoparticles for…
The current-induced vibrational dynamics is a key factor determining the stability of molecular nanojunctions. Beyond conventional Joule heating, a different mechanism caused by nonconservative current-induced forces has been predicted for…
We describe how to treat the interaction of travelling electrons with localised vibrational modes in nanojunctions. We present a multichannel scattering technique which can be applied to calculate the transport properties for realistic…
In order to predict the long-term effects of irradiation on the material properties of tungsten, a continuum approach to simulating the interactions of dislocation loops, which arise from radiation damage, is proposed. Continuum models of…
Versatile quantum modes emerge for plasmon describing the collective oscillations of free electrons in metallic nanoparticles when the particle sizes are greatly reduced. Rather than traditional nanoscale study, the understanding of quantum…
Tribological properties of materials play an important role in engineering applications. Up to now, a number of experimental studies have identified correlations between tribological parameters and the mechanical response. Using molecular…
In recent years it has become possible to study the properties of nanocrystalline metals through atomic-scale simulations of systems with realistic grain sizes. A brief overview of the main results is given, such as the observation of a…
In this work, we combine electron microscopy measurements of the surface compositions in Cu-Au nanoparticles and atomistic simulations to investigate the effect of gold segregation. While this mechanism has been extensively investigated…
We propose an approach to measure surface elastic constants of soft solids. Generally, this requires one to probe interfacial mechanics at around the elastocapillary length scale, which is typically microscopic. Deformations of microscopic…
We measure molecular vibrations with femtometer precision using time-resolved x-ray absorption spectroscopy. For a demonstration, a Raman process excites the A$_{1g}$ mode in gas-phase SF$_6$ molecules with an amplitude of $\approx50$ fm,…
We investigated the localized electronic properties of nanoporous gold films by using an ultra-high vacuum scanning tunneling microscope at low temperature (4.2 K). Second derivative scanning tunneling spectroscopy shows the plasmon peaks…
The low-frequency vibrational and low-temperature thermal properties of amorphous solids are markedly different from those of crystalline solids. This situation is counter-intuitive because any solid material is expected to behave as a…
Theoretical calculations of the elastic response of carbon composites and amorphous carbon are reported. The studied composites consist of crystalline nanoinclusions, either spherical diamonds or carbon nanotubes, embedded in amorphous…
The contact mechanics of individual, very small particles with other particles and walls is studied using a nanoindenter setup that allows normal and lateral displacement control and measurement of the respective forces. The sliding,…
Glasses show vibrational properties that are markedly different to those of crystals which are known as phonons. For example, excess low-frequency modes (the so-called boson peak), vibrational localization, and strong scattering of phonons…
The common notion suggests that metallic glasses (MGs) are a homogeneous solid at the macroscopic scale; however, recent experiments and simulations indicate that MGs contain nano-scale elastic heterogeneities. Despite the fundamental…
The shape of metal nanoparticles embedded in dielectric matrices influences the optical properties of the composite material. Swift heavy ion irradiation can induce a controllable shape transformation in gold and other metals embedded in…
Change in the interatomic spacing of a two-atom system under tension and compression has been modelled by the elastic deformation of atoms. The critical elastic strain of atoms before separation or cracking from tension was estimated by the…