Document Type

Article

Original Publication Date

2014

Journal/Book/Conference Title

Journal of Applied Physics

Volume

116

Issue

4

DOI of Original Publication

10.1063/1.4884878

Comments

Originally published at http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4884878

Date of Submission

October 2015

Abstract

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 nickelnanorod 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.

Rights

Alrashid, E., and Ye, D. Surface diffusion driven morphological instability in free-standing nickel nanorod arrays. Journal of Applied Physics, 116, 043501 (2014). Copyright © 2014 AIP Publishing LLC.

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