title: Electronic properties of linear carbon chains: resolving the controversy.
abstract: Literature values for the energy gap of long one-dimensional carbon chains vary from as little as 0.2 eV to more than 4 eV. To resolve this discrepancy, we use the GW many-body approach to calculate the band gap E(g) of an infinite carbon chain. We also compute the energy dependence of the attenuation coefficient β governing the decay with chain length of the electrical conductance of long chains and compare this with recent experimental measurements of the single-molecule conductance of end-capped carbon chains. For long chains, we find E(g) = 2.16 eV and an upper bound for β of 0.21 Å(-1).
authors.affiliation: Physics Department, Lancaster University, LA1 4YB Lancaster, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Amaal
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Al-Backri
authors.affiliation: Physics Department, Lancaster University, LA1 4YB Lancaster, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Viktor
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Zólyomi
authors.affiliation: Physics Department, Lancaster University, LA1 4YB Lancaster, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Colin J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Lambert