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Swift heavy-ion irradiation of elemental metal nanoparticles (NPs) embedded in amorphous SiO 2 induces a spherical to rodlike shape transformation with the direction of NP elongation aligned to that of the incident ion. Large, once-spherical NPs become progressively more rodlike while small NPs below a critical diameter do not elongate but dissolve in the matrix. We examine this shape transformation for ten metals under a common irradiation condition to achieve mechanistic insight into the transformation process. Subtle differences are apparent including the saturation of the elongated NP width at a minimum sustainable, metal-specific value. Elongated NPs of lesser width are unstable and subject to vaporization. Furthermore, we demonstrate the elongation process is governed by the formation of a molten ion-track in amorphous SiO 2 such that upon saturation the elongated NP width never exceeds the molten ion-track diameter. Ion-solid interactions during swift heavy-ion irradiation (SHII) are dominated by inelastic processes in the form of electron excitation and ionization while, in contrast, the influence of elastic processes such as ballistic displacements is negligible. Macroscopically, amorphous SiO 2 (a-SiO 2 ) undergoes a volume-conserving anisotropic deformation when subjected to SHII such that thin freestanding layers contract and expand, respectively, in directions parallel and perpendicular to that of the incident ion [1]. The viscoelastic model [2,3], based on a transient thermal effect, successfully explains this so-called ion hammering. Microscopically, energy is deposited along the ion path, from incident ion to matrix electrons, and is then dissipated within a narrow cylinder of material surrounding the ion path. The heat flow in both the electron and lattice subsystems is well described as functions of time and radial distance by the inelastic thermal spike (i-TS) model [4,5]. When the temperature of the lattice exceeds that required for melting, the material along the ion path is molten and upon quenching an ion track is formed. Recently, we measured the molten ion-track diameter in a-SiO 2 as a function of electronic stopping power [6]. The ion-track radial density distribution consisted of an under-dense core and over-dense shell (relative to unirradiated material), the formation of which was attributed to a quenched-in pressure wave emanating from the ion-track center [6].Elemental metal nanoparticles (NPs) embedded in a-SiO 2 and subjected to SHII can undergo an intriguing shape transformation where once-spherical NPs become progressively more rodlike with the direction of elongation aligned along that of the incident ion. This phenomenon has been reported for several metals under a wide range of SHII conditions, with Refs. [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17] citing selected examples. Freestanding metallic NPs irradiated under comparable conditions do not change shape, demonstrating the embedding a-SiO 2 matrix must have a role in the shape transformation process [8,17]. An unambiguous ...