The mechanical properties of a silicon nanowire under uniaxial tension and compression

摘要

This paper studies the mechanical properties of a silicon nanowire (SiNW) under uniaxial tension and compression with the aid of the molecular dynamics method. The three-bodied Tersoff potential is used to describe the silicon atomic interactions. It was found that under tension, SiNW exhibits rapid necking followed by a continuous unravelling of amorphous silicon atoms featuring a chain of single atoms. During compressive loading, the SiNW undergoes a large post-buckling deflection in its elastic regime. Irreversible deformation via amorphization only occurs in six localized zones before fracture.