TY - JOUR
T1 - Quantum necking in stressed metallic nanowires
AU - Bürki, J.
AU - Goldstein, Raymond E.
AU - Stafford, C. A.
PY - 2003
Y1 - 2003
N2 - 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 partial differential equation 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.
AB - 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 partial differential equation 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.
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U2 - 10.1103/PhysRevLett.91.254501
DO - 10.1103/PhysRevLett.91.254501
M3 - Article
C2 - 14754119
AN - SCOPUS:0942288754
SN - 0031-9007
VL - 91
JO - Physical review letters
JF - Physical review letters
IS - 25
ER -