Searching for the thinnest metallic wire

One-dimensional materials have gained much attention in the last decades: from carbon nanotubes to ultrathin nanowires, to few-atom atomic chains, these can all display unique electronic properties and great potential for next-generation applications. Exfoliable bulk materials could naturally provide a source for one-dimensional wires with well defined structure and electronics. Here, we explore a database of one-dimensional materials that could be exfoliated from experimentally known three-dimensional Van-der-Waals compounds, searching metallic wires that are resilient to Peierls distortions and could act as vias or interconnects for future downscaled electronic devices. As the one-dimensional nature makes these wires particularly susceptible to dynamical instabilities, we carefully characterise vibrational properties to identify stable phases and characterize electronic and dynamical properties. Our search identifies several novel and stable wires; notably, we identify what could be the thinnest possible exfoliable metallic wire, CuC₂, coming a step closer to the ultimate limit in materials downscaling.

Identifier
Source https://archive.materialscloud.org/record/2024.19
Metadata Access https://archive.materialscloud.org/xml?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=oai_dc&identifier=oai:materialscloud.org:1800
Provenance
Creator Cignarella, Chiara; Campi, Davide; Marzari, Nicola
Publisher Materials Cloud
Publication Year 2024
Rights info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess; Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 4.0 International https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/legalcode
OpenAccess true
Contact archive(at)materialscloud.org
Representation
Language English
Resource Type Dataset
Discipline Materials Science and Engineering