Miniaturized ultra-small platinum cylinders weaken when their constituents reduced in number
Wednesday, July 31, 2013 - 07:30
in Physics & Chemistry
Miniaturizing microscopic metallic objects while enhancing their strength is critical to developing high-performance devices that integrate transistor-like electronics with mechanical components. When these objects consist of small crystals, or grains, such as polycrystalline nanopillars, their mechanical behavior is difficult to predict because the grains vary in size and orientation. Researchers from the California Institute of Technology, USA, and A*STAR Institute of High Performance Computing (IHPC), Singapore, have now determined how miniaturization and intrinsic granular structure impact the deformation of ultra-small platinum cylinders.