Direct growth of single-metal-atom chains

Single-metal-atom chains (SMACs), as the smallest one-dimensional structure, have intriguing physical and chemical properties. Although several SMACs have been realized so far, their controllable fabrication remains challenging due to the need to arrange single atoms in an atomically precise manner. Here we develop a chemical vapour co-deposition method to construct a wafer-scale network of platinum SMACs in atom-thin films. The obtained atomic chains possess an average length of up to ~17 nm and a high density of over 10 wt%. Interestingly, as a consequence of the electronic delocalization of platinum atoms along the chain, this atomically coherent one-dimensional channel delivers a metallic behaviour, as revealed by electronic measurements, first-principles calculations and complex network modelling. Our strategy is potentially extendable to other transition metals such as cobalt, enriching the toolbox for manufacturing SMACs and paving the way for the fundamental study of one-dimensional systems and the development of devices comprising monoatomic chains. Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) Ministry of Education (MOE) National Research Foundation (NRF) Submitted/Accepted version This work was supported by the support from National Research Foundation Singapore programme NRF-CRP22-2019-0007 and NRF-CRP21-2018-0007. This work is also supported by the Ministry of Education, Singapore, under its AcRF Tier 2 (MOE2019-T2-2-105) and AcRF Tier 1 RG4/17 and RG7/18. This research is also supported by A*STAR under its AME IRG Grant (Project No. A2083c0052). The work at NUAA was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2019YFA0705400), National Natural Science Foundation of China (11772153, 22073048), the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (BK20190018), and a Project by the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions. W.Z. acknowledges the support of the Beijing Outstanding Young Scientist Program (BJJWZYJH01201914430039). B.T. and X.W. acknowledge the support from the Ministry of Education, Singapore (MOE2019 T1-001-113). H.Y. and M. N. acknowledge the support from the Hong Kong Research Grant Council, Hong Kong (HKRGC GRF 12300218, 12300519, 17201020, 17300021, and UGC-RMGS 207300829). H.D. acknowledges the support from German Research Foundation (DFG) under the Grant SFB917 Nanoswitches.