title: Debye temperature of metallic nanowires--an experimental determination from the resistance of metallic nanowires in the temperature range 4.2 K-300 K.
abstract: We have studied the resistance of metallic nanowires (silver and copper) as a function of the wire diameter in the temperature range 4.2 K-300 K. The nanowires with an average diameter of 15 nm-200 nm and length 6 microm were electrochemically deposited using polycarbonate membranes as template from AgNO3 and CuSO4, respectively. The wires after growth were removed from the membranes by dissolving the polymer in dichloromethane and their crystalline nature confirmed by XRD and TEM studies. The TEM study establishes that the nanowires are single crystalline and can have twin in them. The resistivity data was fitted to Bloch-Gruneisen theorem with the values of Debye temperature and the electron-acoustic phonon coupling constant as the two fit variables. The value of the Debye temperature obtained for the Ag wires was seen to match well with that of the bulk while for Cu wires a significant reduction was observed. The observed increase in resistivity with a decrease in the wire diameter could be explained as due to diffuse surface scattering of the conduction electrons.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560012, India.
authors.forename: Aveek
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bid
authors.forename: Achyut
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bora
authors.forename: A K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Raychaudhuri
mesh_terms: D003198:Computer Simulation; D019327:Copper Sulfate / Q000737:chemistry*; D003460:Crystallization / Q000379:methods*; D017097:Electric Impedance; D004559:Electric Wiring; D046911:Macromolecular Substances / Q000737:chemistry; D008422:Materials Testing; D008670:Metals / Q000737:chemistry; D008956:Models, Chemical; D008968:Molecular Conformation; D036103:Nanotechnology / Q000379:methods*; D043942:Nanotubes / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D010316:Particle Size; D012835:Silver Nitrate / Q000737:chemistry*; D013499:Surface Properties; D013696:Temperature
chemical_list: D046911:Macromolecular Substances; D008670:Metals; D012835:Silver Nitrate; D019327:Copper Sulfate