Atomic structure and dynamic behaviour of truly one-dimensional ionic chains inside carbon nanotubes

Abstract

Materials with reduced dimensionality have attracted much interest in various fields of fundamental and applied science. True one-dimensional (1D) crystals with single-atom thickness have been realized only for few elemental metals (Au, Ag) or carbon, all of which showed very short lifetimes under ambient conditions. We demonstrate here a successful synthesis of stable 1D ionic crystals in which two chemical elements, one being a cation and the other an anion, align alternately inside carbon nanotubes. Unusual dynamical behaviours for different atoms in the 1D lattice are experimentally corroborated and suggest substantial interactions of the atoms with the nanotube sheath. Our theoretical studies indicate that the 1D ionic crystals have optical properties distinct from those of their bulk counterparts and that the properties can be engineered by introducing atomic defects into the chains.

Coherence lifetime broadened optical transitions in a 2 atom diameter HgTe nanowire: a temperature dependent resonance Raman study

“…6 Very recently filling of small diameter SWCNTs has been enabled the production of long atomic chains of metal halides. 10 These studies on extreme diameter nanowires clearly indicate that there is still a lot of new quantum wire physics to be discovered particularly in wires of one to a few atoms in diameter.…”

Encapsulated nanowires: Boosting electronic transport in carbon nanotubes

“…The size and colour of the circles relate to the strength of electron-phonon coupling in the Brillouin zone. One of the phonon decay mechanisms available due to Be encapsulation is demonstrated between the highlighted branches: an optical phonon with strong electron-phonon coupling eters [15], more complex structures become energetically favourable in SWCNTs with diameters larger than ∼ 9Å [16][17][18]. We choose Be for this proof-ofconcept study as it possesses a bulk lattice parameter commensurate with armchair CNTs, suggesting that effects of artificial mismatch strain will be small.…”

In Situ Electron Beam Amorphization of Sb2Te3 within Single Walled Carbon Nanotubes

“…Narrow carbon nanotubes with diameters in the range 0.7-1.1 nm have very recently been shown to produce newly observed pure 1D forms of crystal growth (i.e. linear chains of CsI [24] and atomic coils of Te or Be [25,26] in SWNTS) that may not be so readily interpretable as they cannot form crystallites 2-5 atomic layers thick but they will nonetheless improve our knowledge of phase formation on an even smaller scale than reported here. Encapsulated crystals of 2-5 atomic layers in thickness will allow us to observe crystalline to amorphous phase transitions at the smallest possible scale an this is the main conclusion from our study.…”