High electron mobility and wide-bandgap properties in a novel 1D PdGeS nanochain.

As a versatile platform, one-dimensional (1D) electronic systems host plenty of excellent merits, such as high length-to-diameter ratios, flexible mechanical properties, and manageable electronic characteristics, which endow them with significant potential applications in catalysts, flexible wearable devices, and multifunctional integrated circuits. Herein, based on first-principles calculations, we propose a versatile 1D PdGeS nanochain system. Our calculations show that the 1D PdGeS nanochain can be synthesized simply from its bulk crystal by exfoliation methods and can stably exist at room temperature. The 1D PdGeS nanochain is an indirect semiconductor with a wide bandgap of 2.86 eV, and such a bandgap can be effectively modulated by strain. Remarkably, the electron mobility of the 1D PdGeS nanochain reaches as high as 1506 cm V s, which is one to two orders of magnitude larger than those of most reported 1D materials and even some 2D materials. Such high electron mobility accompanied with low hole mobility endow the 1D PdGeS nanochain with the capacity of the separation of carriers. Our work shows that the 1D PdGeS nanochain is a promising candidate for applications in novel multifunctional nanoelectronic devices.