Current Carrying Capacity of Quasi-1D ZrTe3 Van Der Waals Nanoribbons

Quasi-1D van der Waals materials, such as transition metal trichalcogenides, have strong covalent bonds in one direction and weaker bonds in cross-plane directions. They can be prepared as crystalline nanowires or nanoribbons consisting of 1D atomic threads, i.e., chains. We have examined the current carrying capacity of ZrTe3 nanoribbons using a set of structures fabricated by the shadow mask method. The bulk crystals were synthesized by the chemical vapor transport method and exfoliated onto Si/SiO2 substrates. It was found that ZrTe3 nanoribbons reveal an exceptionally high current density, on the order of similar to 100MA/cm(2), at the peak of the stressing DC current. The low-frequency noise was of 1/f type near room temperature (f is the frequency). The noise amplitude scaled with the resistance, following the trend established for other low-dimensional materials. The high current density in ZrTe3 can be attributed to the single-crystal nature of quasi-1D van der Waals materials.