Tellurium atomic helices are currently attracting increasing attention. However, to date individual tellurium atomic helices have only been grown encapsulated in host materials. A bare free-standing tellurium atomic helix has yet to be realized experimentally despite the fundamental interest of these systems. Here DFT-based simulations are presented that show that a pristine tellurium atomic helix can be drawn from a tellurium crystal with the help of a gold STM tip, paving the way to a better understanding of tellurium atomic helices.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2504.06401,
title = {How to Make a Pristine Tellurium Atomic Helix},
author = {George Kirczenow},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2504.06401},
year = {2025}
}