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APS » Journals » Phys. Rev. Lett. » Volume 83 » Issue 19
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Phys. Rev. Lett. 83, 3884–3887 (1999)

Stiff Monatomic Gold Wires with a Spinning Zigzag Geometry

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Daniel Sánchez-Portal1, Emilio Artacho2, Javier Junquera2, Pablo Ordejón3, Alberto García4, and José M. Soler2
1Department of Physics and Materials Research Laboratory, University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois 61801
2Departamento de Física de la Materia Condensada and Instituto Nicolás Cabrera, C-III, Universidad Autónoma, E-28049 Madrid, Spain
3Institut de Ciència de Materials de Barcelona (CSIC), Campus de la U.A.B., E-08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain
4Departamento de Física Aplicada II, Universidad del Pais Vasco, Apdo. 644, E-48080 Bilbao, Spain

Received 17 May 1999; published in the issue dated 8 November 1999

Using first-principles density-functional calculations, gold monatomic wires are found to exhibit a zigzag shape which remains under tension, becoming linear just before breaking. At room temperature they are found to spin, which explains the extremely long apparent interatomic distances shown by electron microscopy. The zigzag structure is stable if the tension is relieved, the wire holding its chainlike shape even as a free-standing cluster. This unexpected metallic-wire stiffness stems from the transverse quantization in the wire, as shown in a simple free electron model.

© 1999 The American Physical Society

URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.83.3884
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevLett.83.3884
PACS:
68.65.+g, 71.15.Mb, 73.20.Dx, 73.40.Jn
 
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