Interplay of Rayleigh and Peierls Instabilities in Metallic Nanowires

TL;DR

This paper investigates the stability of metallic nanowires by analyzing the combined effects of electron-shell phenomena, surface tension, and Peierls instability, showing that micrometer-long nanowires can be stable at room temperature.

Contribution

It provides a quantum-mechanical analysis of nanowire stability considering multiple instabilities, highlighting conditions for room-temperature stability.

Findings

Nanowires with 'magic radii' can be stable at micrometer lengths.

Peierls instability limits maximum length but does not prevent stability.

Room-temperature stability is achievable for certain nanowire configurations.

Abstract

A quantum-mechanical stability analysis of metallic nanowires within the free-electron model is presented. The stability is determined by an interplay of electron-shell effects, the Rayleigh instability due to surface tension, and the Peierls instability. Although the latter effect limits the maximum length also for wires with "magic radii", it is found that nanowires in the micrometer range can be stable at room temperature.