One-dimensional atomic chains: rich physics in simple structures

Carbyne---1D polymorph of carbon---has been hypothesized since 1960's, however reproducible techniques of fabricating long carbon chains and measuring their properties have arrived only in the last decade. More recently, 1D chains of other compositions have been fabricated, such as CsI and BN. Here we report our first-principles studies of the properties of carbyne, which shows extreme mechanical performance\footnote{M. Liu \emph{et al.}, \emph{ACS Nano} 7, 10075 (2013)} as well as strongly strain-sensitive electronic properties.\footnote{V. I. Artyukhov, M. Liu, and B. I. Yakobson, \emph{Nano Lett.} 14, 4224 (2014)} We also study 1D nanostructures of boron which shows a reversible tension-driven transition from metallic ribbons to insulating atomic chains with an unusual antiferromagnetic ground state.\footnote{V. I. Artyukhov, M. Liu, and B. I. Yakobson, in preparation}