Surface diffusion driven morphological instability in free-standing nickel nanorod arrays
- Department of Physics, Virginia Commonwealth University, PO Box 842000, Richmond, Virginia 23284-2000 (United States)
Metallic nanostructures are thermodynamically unstable due to the excess of energy of large numbers of surface atoms. Morphological instability, such as Rayleigh breakup, sintering, and coalescence, can be observed at a temperature much lower than the bulk melting point of the metal. We study the morphological and crystalline evolution of well-aligned free-standing nickel nanorod arrays at elevated temperatures up to 600 °C. The as-deposited nickel nanorods are faceted with sharp nanotips, which are deformed at annealing temperatures higher than 400 °C due to strong surface diffusion. A mud-crack like pattern is formed in the samples annealed above 400 °C, leading to the generation of interconnected porous structure. Meanwhile, the X-ray diffraction reveals the recrystallization of nickel nanocrystals when annealed from 300 to 600 °C.
- OSTI ID:
- 22308512
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 116, Issue 4; Other Information: (c) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0021-8979
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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