Hierarchical self-assembly of Au-nanoparticles into filaments: evolution and break.

We compare the assembly of individual Au nanoparticles in a vacuum and between two Au(111) surfaces classical molecular dynamics on a timescale of 100 ns. In a vacuum, the assembly of three nanoparticles used as seeds, initially showing decahedral, truncated octahedral and icosahedral shapes with a diameter of 1.5-1.