Insight into the morphological instability of metallic nanowires under thermal stress

Metallic nanowires, particularly polyol-grown silver nanowires, exhibit a morphological instability at temperatures significantly lower than their bulk melting point. This instability is commonly named after Rayleigh's description of the morphological instability of liquid jets, even though it has been shown that its quantitative predictions are not consistent with experimental measurements. In 1996, McCallum et al. proposed a description of the phenomenon assuming a solid wire lying on a substrate. It is assumed that the latter description depicts more accurately the reality.

Nanowires with varying diameters have been deposited on silicon wafers. Statistical analysis of their radius and the wavelength of their periodical instability have been performed.

McCallum et al.'s model better aligns with experimental observations compared to Rayleigh's description. This validation provides a robust theoretical framework for enhancing the stability of nanowires, addressing a crucial aspect of their development.