Stability and plasticity of silicon nanowires: The role of wire perimeter

We investigated the properties of stability and plasticity of silicon nanowires using molecular dynamics simulations. We considered nanowires with ⟨100⟩, ⟨110⟩, and ⟨112⟩ growth directions with several diameters and surface facet configurations. We found that the wire perimeter, and not the wire diameter, is the meaningful dimensional parameter. As a result, the surface facets play a central role on the nanowire energy, that follows a universal scaling law. Additionally, we have computed the response of a silicon nanowire to external load. The results were compared to available experimental and ab initio data.