It was well established that twinning could increase the mechanical strength of metallic (such as Cu) nanowires. This letter proposes a method of introducing twin boundaries into Cu nanowires using energetic beams and demonstrates the feasibility through classical molecular dynamics simulations. The authors show that after electron bombardment twinning occurs in Cu nanowires. The twinning consists of three steps: nucleation of hexagonal close-packed layer, growth of the hexagonal close-packed layer, and interaction of nearby hexagonal close-packed layers. The twinning method reported here offers a mechanism of improving the mechanical strength of metallic nanowires.

Twin Cu Nanowires using Energetic Beams. Y.Zhang, H.Huang: Applied Physics Letters, 2009, 95[11], 111914