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Two novel superhard carbon allotropes with honeycomb structures

MetadataDetails
Publication Date2019-10-14
JournalJournal of Applied Physics
AuthorsWei Zhang, Changchun Chai, Qingyang Fan, Yanxing Song, Yintang Yang
InstitutionsXi’an University of Architecture and Technology, Xidian University
Citations47

Two novel superhard 3D sp3 hybridized carbon allotropes (Cmmm-C32 and P6/mmm-C54) are proposed in this work through first-principles calculations. Both Cmmm-C32 and P6/mmm-C54 have a honeycomb structure. P6/mmm-C54 shows a wide direct bandgap (3.564 eV), while Cmmm-C32 shows an ultrawide indirect bandgap (5.051 eV), as determined using the HSE06 hybrid functional. The hardnesses of Cmmm-C32 and P6/mmm-C54 are 83.72 and 54.01 GPa, respectively, and their calculated ideal strengths further confirm their superhardness characteristics. P6/mmm-C54 is isotropic in the (001) plane. The minimum thermal conductivities of Cmmm-C32 and P6/mmm-C54 are larger than those of diamond-C, illustrating that Cmmm-C32 and P6/mmm-C54 are potential semiconductor device materials.