Metal Nanowires: Quantum Transport, Cohesion, and Stability
arXiv:cond-mat/0204293 · doi:10.1002/1521-3951(200204)230:2<481::AID-PSSB481>3.0.CO;2-M
Abstract
Metal nanowires exhibit a number of interesting properties: their electrical conductance is quantized, their shot-noise is suppressed by the Pauli principle, and they are remarkably strong and stable. We show that many of these properties can be understood quantitatively using a nanoscale generalization of the free-electron model. Possible technological applications of nanowires are also discussed.
8 pages, 5 postscript figures, lectures given at Pan-American Advanced Studies Institute on Physics and Technology at the Nanometer Scale