Observation of electronic and atomic shell effects in gold nanowires

TL;DR

This paper reports the discovery of shell effects in gold nanowires, showing stable diameters due to electronic and atomic shell structures, similar to phenomena observed in alkali metals at low temperatures.

Contribution

It provides the first observation of electronic and atomic shell effects in gold nanowires formed in vacuum at room temperature.

Findings

Identification of stable diameters corresponding to shell structures

Presence of two competing 'magic' series of stable diameters

Similarity to shell effects in alkali metals at low temperatures

Abstract

The formation of gold nanowires in vacuum at room temperature reveals a periodic spectrum of exceptionally stable diameters. This is identified as shell structure similar to that which was recently discovered for alkali metals at low temperatures. The gold nanowires present two competing `magic' series of stable diameters, one governed by electronic structure and the other by the atomic packing.