Low Resistivity and High Breakdown Current Density of 10 nm Diameter van der Waals TaSe₃ Nanowires by Chemical Vapor Deposition

Micron-scale single-crystal nanowires of metallic TaSe 3, a material that forms −Ta–Se 3 –Ta–Se 3 – stacks separated from one another by a tubular van der Waals (vdW) gap, have been synthesized using chemical vapor deposition (CVD) on a SiO 2 /Si substrate, in a process compatible with semiconductor industry requirements. Their electrical resistivity was found unaffected by downscaling from the bulk to as little as 7 nm in nanowire width and height, in striking contrast to the resistivity of copper for the same dimensions. While the bulk resistivity of TaSe 3 is substantially higher than that of bulk copper, at the nanometer scale the TaSe 3 wires become competitive to similar-sized copper ones. Moreover, we find that the vdW TaSe 3 nanowires sustain current densities in excess of 10 8 A/cm 2 and feature an electromigration energy barrier twice that of copper. The results highlight the promise of quasi-one-dimensional transition metal trichalcogenides for electronic interconnect applications and the potential of van der Waals materials for downscaled electronics.