Ballistic transport in nanodevices based on single-crystalline Cu thin films

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Abstract In ballistic transport, the movement of charged carriers remains unimpeded by scattering events. In this limit, microscopic parameters such as crystal momentum, spin and quantum phases are well conserved, allowing electrons to maintain their quantum coherence over longer distances. Nanoscale materials, such as carbon nanotubes, graphene, and nanowires, exhibit ballistic transport. However, their scalability in devices is significantly limited. While deposited metal films offer excellent scalability for nanodevices, their short electronic mean free paths hinder ballistic transport. In this study, we investigated the electronic transport in cross-geometry devices fabricated with 90-nm-thick Cu films without grain boundaries. We demonstrated ballistic transport in devices with channel widths less than 150 nm at temperatures below 85 K by measuring via negative bend resistance measurements. Our findings establish a novel and scalable platform for exploring the intrinsic quantum mechanical properties of Cu, advancing both the fundamental understanding of quantum transport in metals and its practical applications in next-generation electronic quantum technologies.
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Ballistic transport in nanodevices based on single-crystalline Cu thin films | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Ballistic transport in nanodevices based on single-crystalline Cu thin films Gil-Ho Lee, Yongjin Cho, Su Jae Kim, Min-Hyoung Jung, Yousil Lee, and 5 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6449632/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 07 Mar, 2026 Read the published version in Nature Communications → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract In ballistic transport, the movement of charged carriers remains unimpeded by scattering events. In this limit, microscopic parameters such as crystal momentum, spin and quantum phases are well conserved, allowing electrons to maintain their quantum coherence over longer distances. Nanoscale materials, such as carbon nanotubes, graphene, and nanowires, exhibit ballistic transport. However, their scalability in devices is significantly limited. While deposited metal films offer excellent scalability for nanodevices, their short electronic mean free paths hinder ballistic transport. In this study, we investigated the electronic transport in cross-geometry devices fabricated with 90-nm-thick Cu films without grain boundaries. We demonstrated ballistic transport in devices with channel widths less than 150 nm at temperatures below 85 K by measuring via negative bend resistance measurements. Our findings establish a novel and scalable platform for exploring the intrinsic quantum mechanical properties of Cu, advancing both the fundamental understanding of quantum transport in metals and its practical applications in next-generation electronic quantum technologies. Physical sciences/Physics/Condensed-matter physics/Electronic properties and materials Physical sciences/Materials science/Materials for devices/Electronic devices ballistic transport copper single-crystalline thin film grain-boundary free van der Pauw method Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files 250407SIBallistictransport.docx Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 07 Mar, 2026 Read the published version in Nature Communications → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. 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