Electronic heat transport versus atomic heating in irradiated short metallic nanowires

The twoerature model (TTM) is commonly used to represent the energy exchange between atoms and electrons in materials under irradiation. In this work we use the TTM coupled to molecular dynamics (TTM-MD) to study swift heavy ion irradiation of Au and W finite nanowires. While no permanent structural...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Grossi, Joás Santiago, Kohanoff, Jorge Jose, Todorov, T. N., Artacho, Emilio, Bringa, Eduardo Marcial
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2019
País:Argentina
Institución:Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
Repositorio:CONICET Digital (CONICET)
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:ri.conicet.gov.ar:11336/157458
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/11336/157458
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:NANOWIRES
ION IRRADIATION
DEFECTS
https://purl.org/becyt/ford/2.10
https://purl.org/becyt/ford/2
Descripción
Sumario:The twoerature model (TTM) is commonly used to represent the energy exchange between atoms and electrons in materials under irradiation. In this work we use the TTM coupled to molecular dynamics (TTM-MD) to study swift heavy ion irradiation of Au and W finite nanowires. While no permanent structural modifications are observed in bulk, nanowires behave in a different way depending on thermal conductivity and the electron-phonon coupling parameter. Au is a good heat conductor and it does not transfer energy from electrons to phonons too efficiently. Therefore, energy is quickly carried away from the track so that both electronic and lattice temperatures remain quite uniform across the sample at all times. W has a lower thermal conductivity and a larger electron-phonon coupling, thus supporting an inhomogeneous lattice temperature profile with temperatures well above melting lasting several picoseconds in the irradiated region. Both W and Au nanowires display radiation-induced surface roughening. However, in the case of W there is also sputtering and the formation of a hole in the central part of the wire, purely due to the energy transferred to the atoms by the electrons. The physical mechanisms underlying these findings are rationalized in terms of a combination of sputtering, vacancy formation, and melt flow phenomena. The role of the electron-phonon coupling parameter g is analyzed.