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IPFS News Link • Science, Medicine and Technology

"Metallizing" diamond could switch from insulator to conductor at will

• https://newatlas.com, By Michael Irving

The team has calculated that deforming diamond nano-needles would change their conductivity from an insulator to a semiconductor to a highly conductive metal – and back again at will.

Strain seems like something that you'd normally want to avoid, but in some cases it can change a material for the better. Strained silicon, for example, can allow electrons to move through it more easily, making for transistors that can switch up to 35 percent faster. The key is to apply enough strain to affect the arrangement of atoms in the crystal lattice, but not too much that the lattice itself is disrupted.

How easily electrons move through a material is measured as that material's "bandgap," and the higher that number the harder a time electrons have getting through. At 5.6 electron volts, diamond normally has an ultrawide bandgap that makes it a great insulator. But in the new study, the researchers found a way to strain diamond to change its bandgap.

Using computer simulations of quantum mechanics and mechanical deformation, the team found that a diamond probe could be used to bend diamond nano-needles to different levels of strain. The more strain that was applied, the narrower the bandgap became, until it disappeared completely just before the point where the needle would break. At that point the diamond becomes "metallized" and an excellent electrical conductor.


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