Yufeng Zhao

Publications (2)14.74 Total impact

• Source

  Available from: rice.edu

  Article: What is the ground-state structure of the thinnest Si nanowires?

  Yufeng Zhao, Boris I Yakobson
  [show abstract] [hide abstract]
  ABSTRACT: Pristine silicon whiskers are compared through energy analysis by separating the surface, edge, and bulk contributions, and by energy computation for a variety of structures and diameters d. It is shown that for d<6 nm a polycrystalline wire of five-fold symmetry, rather than single-crystal types, represents the ground state. It remains stable in molecular dynamics tests up to approximately 1000 K. Its specific surface reconstruction also stands out in that it favors kinetics of whisker growth and thus appears potentially realizable.
  Physical Review Letters 07/2003; 91(3):035501. · 7.37 Impact Factor
• Source

  Available from: rice.edu

  Article: Dynamic topology of fullerene coalescence.

  Yufeng Zhao, Boris I Yakobson, Richard E Smalley
  [show abstract] [hide abstract]
  ABSTRACT: Atomic rearrangements leading to the coalescence of fullerene cages are revealed by topological analysis. Paths found for nanotubes and C(60) consist exclusively of Stone-Wales bond rotations. Computed intermediate states show gradual evolution from separate clusters to completely fused coherent units. Molecular dynamics simulations follow the predicted routes, overcome the nucleation barrier, and reach a final annealed state. While the overall behavior resembles macroscopic sintering, the nanoscale neck undergoes quantized changes in diameter and crystalline order.
  Physical Review Letters 06/2002; 88(18):185501. · 7.37 Impact Factor