Surface effects on the mechanical elongation of AuCu nanowires: De-alloying and the formation of mixed suspended atomic chains

We report here an atomistic study of the mechanical deformation of AuxCu(1−x) atomic-size wires (nanowires (NWs)) by means of high resolution transmission electron microscopy experiments. Molecular dynamics simulations were also carried out in order to obtain deeper insights on the dynamical properties of stretched NWs. The mechanical properties are significantly dependent on the chemical composition that evolves in time at the junction; some …