Breakdown Current Density in BN-Capped Quasi-1D TaSe3 Metallic   Nanowires: Prospects of Interconnect Applications
  We report results of investigation of the current-carrying capacity of nanowires made from the quasi-1D van der Waals metal tantalum triselenide capped with quasi-2D boron nitride. The chemical vapor transport method followed by chemical and mechanical exfoliation were used to fabricate mm-long TaSe3 wires with lateral dimensions in the 20 to 70 nm range. Electrical measurements establish that TaSe3/h-BN nanowire heterostructures have a breakdown current density exceeding 10 MA/cm2 - an order-of-magnitude higher than that in copper. Some devices exhibited an intriguing step-like breakdown, which can be explained by the atomic thread bundle structure of the nanowires. The quasi-1D single crystal nature of TaSe3 results in low surface roughness and the absence of grain boundaries; these features potentially can enable the downscaling of these wires to lateral dimensions in the few-nm range. These results suggest that quasi-1D van der Waals metals have potential for applications in the ultimately downscaled local interconnects. 
Maxim A. Stolyarov, Guanxiong Liu, Matthew A. Bloodgood, Ece Aytan,   Chenglong Jiang, Rameez Samnakay, Tina T. Salguero, De...
cond-mat.mes-hall cond-mat.mtrl-sci