String Tension and Stability of Magic Tip-Suspended Nanowires

Multishell helical gold nanowires were recently imaged by electron microscopy. We show theoretically that the contact with the gold tips at either end of the wire plays a crucial role and that local minima in the string tension rather than the total wire free energy determine the nanowire stability....

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) 2001-01, Vol.291 (5502), p.288-290
Main Authors: Tosatti, E., Prestipino, S., Kostlmeier, S., Corso, A. Dal, Di Tolla, F. D.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Applied sciences
Atoms
Chirality
Condensed matter: electronic structure, electrical, magnetic, and optical properties
Coral reefs
Corals
Cross-disciplinary physics: materials science
rheology
Electron states and collective excitations in multilayers, quantum wells, mesoscopic, and nanoscale systems
Electron states and collective excitations in thin films, multilayers, quantum wells, mesoscopic and nanoscale systems
Electronic structure
Electronic structure and electrical properties of surfaces, interfaces, thin films and low-dimensional structures
Electrons
Exact sciences and technology
Insolation
Local minimum
Marine isotope stages
Materials science
Metals. Metallurgy
Microelectronics
Molecular electronics
Nanoscale materials and structures: fabrication and characterization
Nanotechnology
Nanowires
Physics
Silver
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Summary:Multishell helical gold nanowires were recently imaged by electron microscopy. We show theoretically that the contact with the gold tips at either end of the wire plays a crucial role and that local minima in the string tension rather than the total wire free energy determine the nanowire stability. Density functional electronic structure calculations of the simplest and thinnest coaxial gold and silver wires of variable radius and chirality were carried out. We found a string tension minimum for a single-tube gold nanowire that is chiral and consists of seven strands, in striking agreement with observation. In contrast, no such minimum was found for silver, where the s-d competition leading to surface reconstruction is lacking.
ISSN:0036-8075
1095-9203
DOI:10.1126/science.291.5502.288