2003/12/31 by D. F. Urban, J. Bürki, C. -H. Zhang +2
Physics and Astronomy · #cond-mat.mes-hall
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevlett.93.186403
published as Phys. Rev. Lett. 93, 186403 (2004)
arxiv created 2004/10/29 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01
A stability analysis of metal nanowires shows that a Jahn-Teller deformation breaking cylindrical symmetry can be energetically favorable, leading to stable nanowires with elliptic cross sections. The sequence of stable cylindrical and elliptical nanowires allows for a consistent interpretation of experimental conductance histograms for alkali metals, including both the shell and supershell structures. It is predicted that for gold, elliptical nanowires are even more likely to form since their eccentricity is smaller than for alkali metals. The existence of certain metastable ``superdeformed'' nanowires is also predicted.