Figure 1

Snapshots showing the elongation of Au nanorods along the [1 1 0] direction: (a) 300 K; (b) and (c) 150 K. Note that the structure seems to stay straight and defect free in (a), while the formation of structural planar defects can be easily identified in (b) and (c) (indicated by arrows). Elongation rates were $\sim 0.02$, $\sim 0.03$, and $\sim 0.02\mathrm{nm}/\mathrm{s}$ for (a), (b), and (c), respectively. Atomic positions appear dark.Reuse & Permissions

Figure 2

(a) Left side: scheme of the atomic arrangement of a [110] rodlike NW formed by 5 (200) atomic planes [Fig. 1a (0’s)]; right side: expected cross section. (b) Top: scheme of a wire formed by 4 $(-\text{}11-\text{}1)$ planes [Fig. 1b (0’s)], the ABC sequence of stacked hexagonal-close-packed planes is indicated. (b) Bottom: glide of one rod section over the 4th (111) atomic plane by a $1/6$ [211] (generated planar defect is arrowed) and, glide by $1/2$ [1 1 0] which generates a higher surface step but realigns the remaining $(-\text{}11-\text{}1)$ planes; at right, a twin defect (fifth layer) is exemplified (arrowed).Reuse & Permissions

Figure 3

Elongation of [110] Pt NRs: (a) 300 K; (b) 150 K. In contrast to Au systems, Pt rods of similar size display the formation of planar defects (arrowed in image 34 s) at room temperature. During the deformation at 150 K, the Pt rod displays a grain boundary [arrowed in (b)], which is moving down along the wire (a black bar serves as reference to visualize the boundary movement). A careful analysis of (b) reveals a boundary dislocation at the center of the wire. (c) Scheme of the atomic arrangement associated with Fig. 3b; note that the misorientation between grains is about 30 degrees$30°$ Atomic positions appear dark.Reuse & Permissions

Figure 4

Total energy changes associated with the generation of planar defects in an Au NR as shown in Fig. 2. (a) The (111) slip planes have a hexagonal shape; the sequential stacking of these planes ($A,B,C$) is represented by different colors (black, white, gray, respectively). To move from a $B$ site (marked 0) into another $B$ site, three different pathways are possible (final positions marked 1, 2, 3; there are three equivalent paths but moving downwards). The paths have been generated by two successive gliding steps. (b) To allow quick evaluation of the generated surface steps generated by the glides, the resulting structural configurations around the planar defect are displayed. (c) Total energy changes associated with the different pathways (calculations were performed considering 10 positions along each glide). In order to have a better visualization of the used structures and processes to obtain the barrier curves, see video 04, supplemental materials [12].Reuse & Permissions