| In this Thesis, I present a study of electronic and structural properties of functional nanostructures such as MoSxIy nanowires, self-assembled monolayer on top of metallic surfaces and structural changes induced in graphite by photo excitations. MoSxI y nanowires, which can be easily synthesized in one step, show many advantages over conventional carbon nanotubes in molecular electronics and many other applications. But how to self-assemble them into desired pattern for practical electronic network? Self-assembled monolayers of polymers on metallic surfaces may help to guide pattern formation of some nanomaterials such as MoSxIy nanowires. I have investigated the physical properties of these nanoscale wires and microscopic self-assembly mechanisms of patterns by total energy calculations combined with molecular dynamics simulations and structure optimization.;First, I studied the stability of novel Molybdenum chaicohalide nanowires, a candidate for molecular electronics applications.;Next, I investigated the self-assembly of nanoparticles into ordered arrays with the aid of a template. Such templates, I showed, can be formed by polymer adsorption on surfaces such as highly ordered pyrolytic graphite and Ag(111).;Finally, I studied the physical origin of of structural changes induced in graphite by light in form of a femtosecond laser pulse. |
