N H Fletcher et al 2009 Nanotechnology 20 085613 doi:10.1088/0957-4484/20/8/085613
N H Fletcher, R G Elliman and T-H Kim
Show affiliationsSilica nanowires grown from gold droplets deposited on the surface of a silicon crystal sometimes develop within them a regular series of gold beads distributed along the wire axis in what is often called either a bead-string or a pea-pod structure. This is generally attributed to a 'Rayleigh instability' driven by the surface free energy of the included gold core. Here a new model is proposed in which quasi-conical gold inclusions are developed by the diffusion-limited growth process and are subsequently modified to spherical shape by another diffusion process that is driven by surface free energy. This model provides a possible basis for detailed numerical calculations.
81.07.-b Nanoscale materials and structures: fabrication and characterization
68.35.Md Surface thermodynamics, surface energies
68.35.Fx Diffusion; interface formation
81.16.-c Methods of nanofabrication and processing
68.65.-k Low-dimensional, mesoscopic, and nanoscale systems: structure and nonelectronic properties
Issue 8 (25 February 2009)
Received 12 November 2008, in final form 18 December 2008
Published 3 February 2009
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