Novel Shape Memory of Metal Nanowires through Lattice Reorientation

ISBN-13: 9783639165173 / Angielski / Miękka / 2009 / 116 str.

Wuwei Liang

Opis

As functional nano building blocks, nanowires are ofgreat technical importance because of their uniquestructures, properties, and potential applications innanoscale electronic, photonic, biological, andchemical devices. These applications require afundamental understanding of the structuralcharacteristics and thermomechanical properties ofnanowires. This work focuses on the characterization of thestructure and mechanical behavior of metal nanowires.A novel shape memory effect and pseudoelasticbehavior of metal nanowires are discovered inmolecular dynamics simulations. Specifically, upontensile loading and unloading, these wires canrecover elongations of up to 50%, well beyond therecoverable strains of 5-8% typical for most bulkshape memory alloys. This novel behavior arises froma reversible lattice reorientation driven by the highsurface-stress-induced internal stresses at thenanoscale. It exists over a wide range of temperatureand is associated with response times on the order ofnanoseconds, making the nanowires attractivefunctional components for a new generation ofbiosensors, transducers, and interconnects innano-electromechanical systems.

O autorze

Dr. Wuwei Liang is a research engineer at Southwest Research
Institute in San Antonio, Texas. His research interests include
structure and mechanical properties of nanomaterials, fracture,
fatigue and reliability.

Dr. Min Zhou is a professor in the Department of Mechanical
Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA.