Electrical transport in deformed nanostrips: electrical signature of   reversible mechanical failure
  We calculate the electrical conductivity of a thin crystalline strip of atoms confined within a quasi one dimensional channel of fixed width. The conductivity shows anomalous behavior as the strip is deformed under tensile loading. Beyond a critical strain, the solid fails by the nucleation of alternating bands of solid and {\em smectic} like phases accompanied by a jump in the conductivity. Since the failure of the strip in this system is known to be reversible, the onductivity anomaly may have practical use as a sensitive strain transducer. 
Soumendu Datta, Debasish Chaudhuri, Tanusri Saha-Dasgupta, Surajit   Sengupta