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Register a new userAtomic size oscillations in conductance histograms for gold nanowires and the influence of work hardening
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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 configurations is influenced by the microstructure of the starting materials and we discover a new set of periodic structures, which we interpret as due to the atomic discreteness of the contact size for the three principal crystal orientations.
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Conductance histograms of work-hardened Al show a series up to 11 equidistant peaks with a period of 1.15 +/- 0.02 of the quantum conductance unit G_0 = 2e^2/h. Assuming the peaks originate from atomic discreteness, this agrees with the value of 1.16 G_0 per atom obtained in numerical calculations by Hasmy et al.
We extend our previous shell effect observation in gold nanowires at room temperature under ultra high vacuum to the other two noble metals: silver and copper. Similar to gold, silver nanowires present two series of exceptionally stable diameters related to electronic and atomic shell filling. This observation is in concordance to what was previously found for alkali metal nanowires. Copper however presents only electronic shell filling. Remarkably we find that shell structure survives under ambient conditions for gold and silver.
We have studied the effect of thermal effects on the structural and transport response of Ag atomic-size nanowires generated by mechanical elongation. Our study involves both time-resolved atomic resolution transmission electron microscopy imaging and quantum conductance measurement using an ultra-high-vacuum mechanically controllable break junction. We have observed drastic changes in conductance and structural properties of Ag nanowires generated at different temperatures (150 and 300 K). By combining electron microscopy images, electronic transport measurements and quantum transport calculations, we have been able to obtain a consistent correlation between the conductance and structural properties of Ag NWs. In particular, our study has revealed the formation of metastable rectangular rod-like Ag wire (3/3) along the (001) crystallographic direction, whose formation is enhanced. These results illustrate the high complexity of analyzing structural and quantum conductance behaviour of metal atomic-size wires; also, they reveal that it is extremely difficult to compare NW conductance experiments performed at different temperatures due to the fundamental modifications of the mechanical behavior.
Using a scanning tunnel microscope or mechanically controlled break junctions, atomic contacts of Au, Pt and Ir are pulled to form chains of atoms. We have recorded traces of conductance during the pulling process and averaged these for a large amount of contacts. An oscillatory evolution of conductance is observed during the formation of the monoatomic chain suggesting a dependence on even or odd numbers of atoms forming the chain. This behaviour is not only present in the monovalent metal Au, as it has been previously predicted, but is also found in the other metals which form chains suggesting it to be a universal feature of atomic wires.
For the first time, we report the formation of pentagonal atomic chains during tensile deformation of ultra thin BCC Fe nanowires. Extensive molecular dynamics simulations have been performed on $<$100$>$/{110} BCC Fe nanowires with different cross section width varying from 0.404 to 3.634 nm at temperatures ranging from 10 to 900 K. The results indicate that above certain temperature, long and stable pentagonal atomic chains form in BCC Fe nanowires with cross section width less than 2.83 nm. The temperature, above which the pentagonal chains form, increases with increase in nanowire size. The pentagonal chains have been observed to be highly stable over large plastic strains and contribute to high ductility in Fe nanowires.
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