Effects of morphology on phonons of nanoscopic silver grains

The morphology of nanoscopic Ag grains significantly affects the phonons. Atomistic simulations show that realistic nanograin models display complex vibrational properties. (1) Single-crystalline grains. Nearly-pure torsional and radial phonons appear at low frequencies. For low-energy, faceted models, the breathing mode and acoustic gap (lowest frequency) are about 10% lower than predicted by elasticity theory (ET) for a continuum sphere of the same volume. The sharp edges and the atomic lattice split the ET-acoustic-gap quintet into a doublet and triplet. The surface protrusions associated with nearly spherical, high-energy models produce a smaller acoustic gap and a higher vibrational density of states (DOS) at frequencies \nu<2 THz. (2) Twined icosahedra. In contrast to the single-crystal case, the inherent strain produce a larger acoustic gap, while the core atoms yield a DOS tail extending beyond the highest frequency of single-crystalline grains. (3) Mark's decahedra, in contrast to (1) and (2), do not have a breathing mode; although twined and strained, do not exhibit a high-frequency tail in the DOS. (4) Irregular nanograins. Grain boundaries and surface disorder yield non-degenerate phonon frequencies, and significantly smaller acoustic gap. Only these nanograins exhibit a low-frequency \nu^2 DOS in the interval 1-2 THz.