PNNL

Abstract

Molecular dynamics simulations have been used to study the melting of GaN nanowires with triangular cross-sections. The curve of the potential energy, along with the atomic configuration is used to monitor the phase transition. The thermal stability of GaN nanowires is dependent on the size of the nanowires. The melting temperature of the GaN nanowires increases with the increasing of area cross-section of the nanowires to a saturation value. An interesting result is that of the nanowires start to melt from the edges, then the surface, and extends to the inner regions of nanowires as temperature increases.