Influence of crystallinity on the Rayleigh instability of gold nanowires

• Published in: Journal of physics. D, Applied physics Vol. 40; no. 12; pp. 3767 - 3770
• Main Authors: Karim, S, Toimil-Molares, M E, Ensinger, W, Balogh, A G, Cornelius, T W, Khan, E U, Neumann, R
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Bristol IOP Publishing 21.06.2007; Institute of Physics
• Subjects: Cross-disciplinary physics: materials science; rheology; Exact sciences and technology; Materials science; Nanoscale materials and structures: fabrication and characterization; Other topics in nanoscale materials and structures; Physics; Scanning electron microscopy; Gold; Annealing; Molecular dynamics method; Thermal instabilities; Crystallinity; XRD; Nanowires; Crystal structure
• ISSN: 0022-3727; 1361-6463
• DOI: 10.1088/0022-3727/40/12/031

The influence of the crystalline structure of nanowires on their thermal instability has been systematically investigated. Both poly- and single-crystalline (SC) cylindrical nanowires with diameters 87 and 132 nm transform into chains of spheres during annealing at 600-700 deg C. SC nanowires oriented along the 1 1 0 direction are found to be more stable, i.e. longer annealing times are needed for their complete transformation into sphere chains. Sphere size and spacing between adjacent spheres formed after decay are controlled by the crystallinity of the wires and both are larger in the case of SC nanowires.