Articles you may be interested inStabilization of the surface morphology of stressed solids using simultaneously applied electric fields and thermal gradientsThe effect of a thermal gradient on the electromigration-driven surface morphological stabilization of an epitaxial thin film on a compliant substrate Temperature threshold for nanorod structuring of metal and oxide films grown by glancing angle deposition Metallic nanostructures are thermodynamically unstable due to the excess of energy of large numbers of surface atoms. Morphological instability, such as Rayleigh breakup, sintering, and coalescence, can be observed at a temperature much lower than the bulk melting point of the metal. We study the morphological and crystalline evolution of well-aligned free-standing nickel nanorod arrays at elevated temperatures up to 600 C. The as-deposited nickel nanorods are faceted with sharp nanotips, which are deformed at annealing temperatures higher than 400 C due to strong surface diffusion. A mud-crack like pattern is formed in the samples annealed above 400 C, leading to the generation of interconnected porous structure. Meanwhile, the X-ray diffraction reveals the recrystallization of nickel nanocrystals when annealed from 300 to 600 C. V C 2014 AIP Publishing LLC. [http://dx.

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