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After making a cold weld by pressing two clean metal surfaces together, upon gradually separating the two pieces a metallic nanowire is formed, which progressively thins down to a single atom before contact is lost. In previous experiments…
A stability analysis of metal nanowires shows that a Jahn-Teller deformation breaking cylindrical symmetry can be energetically favorable, leading to stable nanowires with elliptic cross sections. The sequence of stable cylindrical and…
We report experiments on aluminum nanowires in ultra-high vacuum at room temperature that reveal a periodic spectrum of exceptionally stable structures. Two "magic" series of stable structures are observed: At low conductance, the formation…
The shape of metallic constrictions of nanoscopic dimensions (necks) formed using a scanning tunneling microscope (STM) is shown to depend on the fabrication procedure. Submitting the neck to repeated plastic deformation cycles makes…
Rapid and reproducible assembly of aligned nanostructures on a wafer-scale is a crucial, yet one of the most challenging tasks in the incorporation of nanowires into integrated circuits. We present the synthesis of a periodic nanochannel…
A brief review of the nanoscale free-electron model of metal nanowires is presented. This continuum description of metal nanostructures allows for a unified treatment of cohesive and conducting properties. Conductance channels act as…
A general linear stability analysis of simple metal nanowires is presented using a continuum approach which correctly accounts for material-specific surface properties and electronic quantum-size effects. The competition between surface…
To investigate cylindrical ultrathin copper nanowires, we performed atomistic simulations using the steepest descent method. The stable structures of the cylindrical ultrathin copper nanowires were multi-shell packs composed of coaxial…
Structural transformations, electronic spectra and ballistic transport in pulled gold nanowires are investigated with ab initio simulations, and correlated with recent measurements. Strain-induced yield of an initial double-strand wire…
The stability and electronic structure of a single monatomic Al wire has been studied using the ab initio pseudopotential method. The Al wire undergoes two structural rearrangements under compression, i.e., zigzag configurations at angles…
Segmented magnetic nanowires are a promising route for the development of three dimensional data storage techniques. Such devices require a control of the coercive field and the coupling mechanisms between individual magnetic elements. In…
We have carried out first principles electronic structure and total energy calculations for a series of ultrathin aluminum nanowires, based on structures obtained by relaxing the model wires of Gulseren et al. The number of conducting…
We describe a method for fabrication of uniform aluminum nanowires with diameters below 15 nm. Electron beam lithography is used to define narrow wires, which are then etched using a sodium bicarbonate solution, while their resistance is…
Computer simulations suggest that ultrathin metal wires should develop exotic, non-crystalline stable atomic structures, once their diameter decreases below a critical size of the order of a few atomic spacings. The new structures, whose…
Nanowires of different nature have been shown to self-assemble as a function of stress at the contact between two macroscopic metallic leads. Here we demonstrate for gold wires that the balance between various metastable nanowire…
Superconducting devices are prone to reduced performance caused by impurities and defects along the edges of their wires, which can lead to local current crowding. In this study, we explored the use of helium ion irradiation to modify the…
The formation of gold nanowires in vacuum at room temperature reveals a periodic spectrum of exceptionally stable diameters. This is identified as shell structure similar to that which was recently discovered for alkali metals at low…
The development of a materials platform that exhibits both superconducting and semiconducting properties is an important endeavour for a range of emerging quantum technologies. We investigate the formation of superconductivity in nanowires…
Understanding the mechanical properties of nanoscale systems requires a range of measurement techniques and theoretical approaches to gather the relevant physical and chemical information. The arrangements of atoms in nanostructures and…
We establish a method to produce cylindrical magnetic nanowires displaying several segments, with a large versatility in terms of segment diameter and length. It is based on electroplating in alumina templates, the latter being prepared by…