A scaling law for properties of nano-structured materials
Abstract
In this brief communication, we identify intrinsic length scales of several physical properties at the nano-scale and show that, for nano-structures whose characteristic sizes are much larger than these scales, the properties obey a simple scaling law. The underlying cause of the size-dependence of these properties at the nano-scale is the competition between surface and bulk energies. This law provides a yardstick for checking the accuracy of experimentally measured or numerically computed properties of nano-structured materials over a broad size range and can thus help replace repeated and exhaustive testing by one or a few tests.
- Publication:
-
Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series A
- Pub Date:
- May 2006
- DOI:
- 10.1098/rspa.2005.1637
- Bibcode:
- 2006RSPSA.462.1355W
- Keywords:
-
- nano-structured material;
- size effect;
- surface effect;
- intrinsic length scale;
- scaling law