Quantum Necking in Stressed Metallic Nanowires
Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
2008-07-09 v3 Pattern Formation and Solitons
Fluid Dynamics
Abstract
When a macroscopic metallic wire is subject to tensile stress, it necks down smoothly as it elongates. We show that nanowires with radii comparable to the Fermi wavelength display remarkably different behavior. Using concepts from fluid dynamics, a PDE for nanowire shape evolution is derived from a semiclassical energy functional that includes electron-shell effects. A rich dynamics involving movement and interaction of kinks connecting locally stable radii is found, and a new class of universal equilibrium shapes is predicted.
Cite
@article{arxiv.cond-mat/0208540,
title = {Quantum Necking in Stressed Metallic Nanowires},
author = {J. Burki and Raymond E. Goldstein and C. A. Stafford},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:cond-mat/0208540},
year = {2008}
}
Comments
4 pages, 3 postscript figures. New result on universal equilibrium shapes