Effect of bending stress on structures and quantum conduction of Cu nanowires

Abstract

The ballistic transport properties of Cu nanowires under different bending stresses are investigated for future application in flexible displays and flexible solar cell using first-principles density-function theory. The stability and quantum conduction of both nonhelical and helical atomic strands are reduced by applying a bending stress f. With increasing of f, the helical wire becomes disorder, suffering a phase transition to similar nonhelical one and collapsing eventually. Our calculations show that the maximum bearable bending stress is fmax = 3 nN for the helical atomic strands while is more stable than fmax = 2.5 nN for the nonhelical atomic strands.