Related papers: Surface Fluctuations and the Stability of Metal Na…
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…
This article presents a brief review of the nanoscale free-electron model, which provides a continuum description of metal nanostructures. It is argued that surface and quantum-size effects are the two dominant factors in the energetics of…
Finite gold nanowires containing less than 1000 atoms are studied using the molecular dynamics simulation method and embedded atom potential. Nanowires with the face-centered cubic structure and the (111) oriented cross-section are prepared…
We introduce a continuum approach to studying the lifetimes of monovalent metal nanowires. By modelling the thermal fluctuations of cylindrical nanowires through the use of stochastic Ginzburg-Landau classical field theories, we construct a…
Long, cylindrical metal nanowires have recently been observed to form and be stable for seconds at a time at room temperature. Their stability and structural dynamics is well described by a continuum model, the nanoscale free-electron…
We have examined theoretically the spontaneous thinning process of tip-suspended nanowires, and subsequently studied the structure and stability of the monatomic gold wires recently observed by Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM). The…
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…
Frequency stability is key to performance of nanoresonators. This stability is thought to reach a limit with the resonator's ability to resolve thermally-induced vibrations. Although measurements and predictions of resonator stability…
A quantum-mechanical stability analysis of metallic nanowires within the free-electron model is presented. The stability is determined by an interplay of electron-shell effects, the Rayleigh instability due to surface tension, and the…
Superconducting properties of metallic nano-wires may strongly depend on specific experimental conditions. Here we consider a setup where superconducting phase fluctuations are restricted at one point inside the wire and equilibrium…
Nanowires play a pivotal role across a spectrum of disciplines such as nanoelectromechanical systems, nanoelectronics, and energy applications. As nanowires continue to diminish in dimensions, their mechanical characteristics are…
We develop a generalized grand canonical potential for the ballistic nonequilibrium electron distribution in a metal nanowire with a finite applied bias voltage. Coulomb interactions are treated in the self-consistent Hartree approximation,…
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…
Surface diffusion and surface electromigration may lead to a morphological instability of thin solid films and nanowires. In this paper two nonlinear analyses of a morphological instability are developed for a single-crystal cylindrical…
Molecular dynamics simulation have shown that after initial surface melting, nanowires can melt via two mechanisms: an interface front moves towards the wire centre; the growth of an instability at the interface can cause the solid to…
Multi-scale simulations of nanotube-based nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS) controlled by a nonuniform electric field are performed by an example of a gigahertz oscillator. Using molecular dynamics simulations, we obtain the friction…
Axisymmetric solid-state necking of a single-crystal metallic nanowire in a thermal contact with a substrate and subjected to a surface electromigration current is accompanied by a local current crowding and a sharp rise of a resistivity of…
We present a theoretical approach for understanding the stability of simple metal nanowires, in particular monovalent metals such as the alkalis and noble metals. Their cross sections are of order one nanometer so that small perturbations…
Silicon nanowires have attracted considerable interest due to their wide-ranging applications in nanoelectromechanical systems and nanoelectronics. Molecular dynamics simulations are powerful tools for studying the mechanical properties of…
Dynamical structural defects exist naturally in a wide variety of solids. They fluctuate temporally, and hence can deteriorate the performance of many electronic devices. Thus far, the entities of such dynamic objects have been identified…