Strain-induced metal-semiconductor transition observed in atomic carbon chains

A. La Torre; A. Botello-Mendez; W. Baaziz; J. C. Charlier; F. Banhart

doi:10.1038/ncomms7636

Strain-induced metal-semiconductor transition observed in atomic carbon chains

A. La Torre, A. Botello-Mendez, W. Baaziz, J. C. Charlier, F. Banhart^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

Carbyne, the sp¹-hybridized phase of carbon, is still a missing link in the family of carbon allotropes. While the bulk phases of carbyne remain elusive, the elementary constituents, that is, linear chains of carbon atoms, have already been observed using the electron microscope. Isolated atomic chains are highly interesting one-dimensional conductors that have stimulated considerable theoretical work. Experimental information, however, is still very limited. Here we show electrical measurements and first-principles transport calculations on monoatomic carbon chains. When the 1D system is under strain, the chains are semiconducting corresponding to the polyyne structure with alternating bond lengths. Conversely, when the chain is unstrained, the ohmic behaviour of metallic cumulene with uniform bond lengths is observed. This confirms the recent prediction of a metal-insulator transition that is induced by strain. The key role of the contacting leads explains the rectifying behaviour measured in monoatomic carbon chains in a nonsymmetric contact configuration.

Original language	English
Article number	6636
Journal	Nature Communications
Volume	6
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms7636
Publication status	Published - Mar 2015
Externally published	Yes

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2015 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved.

Funding

We gratefully acknowledge the support from the Agence Nationale de Recherche (project NANOCELLS, ANR12 BS1000401). A.B.-M. and J.-C.C. acknowledge financial support from the F.R.S.-FNRS of Belgium. This research is directly connected to the ARC on Graphene Nano-electromechanics (N° 11/16-037) sponsored by the Communauté Franc¸aise de Belgique and to the European ICT FET Flagship entitled ) Graphene-based revolutions in ICT and beyond *. Computational resources were provided by the UCL-CISM and CECI. We are grateful to I. Janowska and C. Pham-Huu for supplying metal nanoparticles on carbon materials.

Funders	Funder number
Communauté Franc¸aise de Belgique
F.R.S.-FNRS of Belgium
Association pour la Recherche sur le Cancer	11/16-037
Agence Nationale de la Recherche	ANR12 BS1000401

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title = "Strain-induced metal-semiconductor transition observed in atomic carbon chains",

abstract = "Carbyne, the sp1-hybridized phase of carbon, is still a missing link in the family of carbon allotropes. While the bulk phases of carbyne remain elusive, the elementary constituents, that is, linear chains of carbon atoms, have already been observed using the electron microscope. Isolated atomic chains are highly interesting one-dimensional conductors that have stimulated considerable theoretical work. Experimental information, however, is still very limited. Here we show electrical measurements and first-principles transport calculations on monoatomic carbon chains. When the 1D system is under strain, the chains are semiconducting corresponding to the polyyne structure with alternating bond lengths. Conversely, when the chain is unstrained, the ohmic behaviour of metallic cumulene with uniform bond lengths is observed. This confirms the recent prediction of a metal-insulator transition that is induced by strain. The key role of the contacting leads explains the rectifying behaviour measured in monoatomic carbon chains in a nonsymmetric contact configuration.",

author = "{La Torre}, A. and A. Botello-Mendez and W. Baaziz and Charlier, {J. C.} and F. Banhart",

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T1 - Strain-induced metal-semiconductor transition observed in atomic carbon chains

AU - La Torre, A.

AU - Botello-Mendez, A.

AU - Baaziz, W.

AU - Charlier, J. C.

AU - Banhart, F.

PY - 2015/3

Y1 - 2015/3

N2 - Carbyne, the sp1-hybridized phase of carbon, is still a missing link in the family of carbon allotropes. While the bulk phases of carbyne remain elusive, the elementary constituents, that is, linear chains of carbon atoms, have already been observed using the electron microscope. Isolated atomic chains are highly interesting one-dimensional conductors that have stimulated considerable theoretical work. Experimental information, however, is still very limited. Here we show electrical measurements and first-principles transport calculations on monoatomic carbon chains. When the 1D system is under strain, the chains are semiconducting corresponding to the polyyne structure with alternating bond lengths. Conversely, when the chain is unstrained, the ohmic behaviour of metallic cumulene with uniform bond lengths is observed. This confirms the recent prediction of a metal-insulator transition that is induced by strain. The key role of the contacting leads explains the rectifying behaviour measured in monoatomic carbon chains in a nonsymmetric contact configuration.

AB - Carbyne, the sp1-hybridized phase of carbon, is still a missing link in the family of carbon allotropes. While the bulk phases of carbyne remain elusive, the elementary constituents, that is, linear chains of carbon atoms, have already been observed using the electron microscope. Isolated atomic chains are highly interesting one-dimensional conductors that have stimulated considerable theoretical work. Experimental information, however, is still very limited. Here we show electrical measurements and first-principles transport calculations on monoatomic carbon chains. When the 1D system is under strain, the chains are semiconducting corresponding to the polyyne structure with alternating bond lengths. Conversely, when the chain is unstrained, the ohmic behaviour of metallic cumulene with uniform bond lengths is observed. This confirms the recent prediction of a metal-insulator transition that is induced by strain. The key role of the contacting leads explains the rectifying behaviour measured in monoatomic carbon chains in a nonsymmetric contact configuration.

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Strain-induced metal-semiconductor transition observed in atomic carbon chains

Abstract

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Funding

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