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Stability and Symmetry Breaking in Metal Nanowires

D. F. Urban·J. Bürki·C. A. Stafford·Hermann Grabert
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Abstract

A general linear stability analysis of simple metal nanowires is presented using a continuum approach which correctly accounts for material-specific surface properties and electronic quantum-size effects. The competition between surface tension and electron-shell effects leads to a complex landscape of stable structures as a function of diameter, cross section, and temperature. By considering arbitrary symmetry-breaking deformations, it is shown that the cylinder is the only generically stable structure. Nevertheless, a plethora of structures with broken axial symmetry is found at low conductance values, including wires with quadrupolar, hexapolar and octupolar cross sections. These non-integrable shapes are compared to previous results on elliptical cross sections, and their material-dependent relative stability is discussed.

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D. F. Urban, J. Bürki, C. A. Stafford, Hermann Grabert. 2006-08-17. Stability and Symmetry Breaking in Metal Nanowires. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevb.74.245414

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