A Mechanism for Symmetry Breaking and Shape Control in Single-Crystal Gold Nanorods

Abstract

The phenomenon of symmetry breaking-in which the order of symmetry of a system is reduced despite manifest higher-order symmetry in the underlying fundamental laws-is pervasive throughout science and nature, playing a critical role in fields ranging from particle physics and quantum theory to cosmology and general relativity. For the growth of crystals, symmetry breaking is the crucial step required to generate a macroscopic shape that has fewer symmetry elements than the unit cell and/or seed crystal from which it grew. Advances in colloid synthesis have enabled a wide variety of nanocrystal morphologies to be achieved, albeit empirically. Of the various nanoparticle morphologies synthesize..