2005/05/09 by J. Bürki, Charles Stafford, C. A. Stafford +1 · 1 citation
Engineering · Physics and Astronomy · #Molecular Junctions and Nanostructures #Quantum and electron transport phenomena #Surface and Thin Film Phenomena #cond-mat.mes-hall #cond-mat.stat-mech
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevlett.95.090601
published as Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 090601 (2005) · 5 pages, 3 figures
arxiv created 2005/05/09 · openalex publication_date 2005/08/22 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Thermally induced conductance jumps of metal nanowires are modeled using stochastic Ginzburg-Landau field theories. Changes in radius are predicted to occur via the nucleation of surface kinks at the wire ends, consistent with recent electron microscopy studies. The activation rate displays nontrivial dependence on nanowire length, and undergoes first- or second-order-like transitions as a function of length. The activation barriers of the most stable structures are predicted to be universal, i.e., independent of the radius of the wire, and proportional to the square root of the surface tension. The reduction of the activation barrier under strain is also determined.