Related papers: Non-Crystalline Structures of Ultra-Thin Unsupport…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Nanowires have been considered for a number of applications in nanometrology. In such a context, we have explored the possibility of using ultrathin twisted nanowires as torsion nanobalances to probe forces and torques at molecular level…
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…
Using empirical scheme, atomic structure of a new exotic class of silicon nanoclusters was elaborated upon the central icosahedral core (Si-IC) and pentagonal petals (Si-PP) growing from Si-IC vertexes. It was shown that Si-IC/Si-PP…
Nanowires are formed by indenting and subsequently retracting two pieces of sodium metal. Their cross-section gradually reduces upon retraction and the diameters can be obtained from the conductance. In previous work we have demonstrated…
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…
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…
One-dimensional materials have gained much attention in the last decades: from carbon nanotubes to ultrathin nanowires, to few-atom atomic chains, these can all display unique electronic properties and great potential for next-generation…
In this paper, we'll hunt for ordered crystal structures that may be stable, and that would explain the brittleness of electrical steel. I.e we wish to find crystals with negative formation energy, if it turns out that these structures are…
Quasi-crystals are aperiodic structures that present crystallographic properties which are not compatible with that of a single unit cell. Their revolutionary discovery in a metallic alloy, less than three decades ago, has required a full…
Internal physical structure can drastically modify the properties of waveguides: photonic crystal fibers are able to confine light inside a hollow air core by Bragg scattering from a periodic array of holes, while metamaterial loaded…
Atomic-resolution electron microscope images show that a quasicrystal is a quasiperiodic packing of clusters. The outer atomic shells of multi-shell clusters occuring in quasicrystals are highly symmetric and rather robust, but some…
Ultrathin nanowires could play a central role in next-generation downscaled electronics. Here, we explore some of the most promising candidates identified from previous high-throughput screening: CuC$_2$, TaSe$_3$, and AuSe$_2$, to gain…
By placing changeable nanofabricated structures (wires, dots, etc.) on an atom mirror one can design guiding and trapping potentials for atoms. These potentials are similar to the electrostatic potentials which trap and guide electrons in…
The mechanical, optical, and chemical properties of a wide variety of soft materials are enabled and constrained by their bulk structure. How this structure emerges at small system sizes during self-assembly has been the subject of decades…
We have discovered a new family of three-dimensional crystal sphere packings that are strictly jammed (i.e., mechanically stable) and yet possess an anomalously low density. This family constitutes an uncountably infinite number of crystal…
It is shown that nanotubes with thicker walls can be grown from strongly bonded multi-layered structures only in accord with some basic crystallographic principles. Either the diameters of such tubes remain large in comparison with the…