Interface-induced pseudoelastic behavior in Bi-metal multilayer nanowires

Gold-palladium (Au-Pd) multilayer nanowires are found by molecular dynamics simulation to behave pseudoelastically contrary to previous reports that single-element Au nanowires do not possess pseudoelasticity. Further analysis indicates that the interfaces not only can induce large compressive stress to assist the spontaneous reorientation but also can induce the Au sublayers to undergo twinning with the Pd sublayers. Our analysis suggests that these two effects render pseudoelasticity possible in nanowires that have relatively large size and are composed of materials that have low twinning capability. © 2008 American Institute of Physics.