Chiral nanowires as high inductance-density materials for atomic-scale circuits

The need to shrink circuit elements for next-generation electronic applications is encouraging the community to find materials that directly implement a particular circuit component. Here, we study a new class of chiral, one-dimensional van-der-Waals- (vdW-) bonded wires that exhibit strong covalent bonding along their helical-like backbone, and address whether they could behave as the smallest possible inductors. We derive a first-principles procedure, based on density-functional theory and many-body perturbation theory, to compute the macroscopic inductance from the microscopic distribution of induced electric fields and currents. Upon application of an electric field along the wire direction, we show the emergence of a transversely induced current response, leading to in-plane currents which can induce large magnetic fields along the wire axis. We quantify the possible inductance effect that could be experimentally measured in Se nanowire and Se nanowire bundles. Our results show that these nanowires could act as the smallest possible inductor system for next-generation electronic circuits.

*This work was supported by the National Science Foundation.