A scheme for realizing continuously tunable spectrum in the visible light region based on monatomic carbon chains

Abstract

We propose a scheme for realizing the continuously tunable spectrum based on monatomic carbon chains. By hybrid density functional calculations, we first show that the direct band gap of monatomic carbon chains change continuously from 1.58 to 3.8 eV as strain is applied from -5 to 10% to the chain, with separated Van Hove singularity peaks enhanced. To realize this tunability, a realistic stretching device is proposed by contacting the chain with graphene sheets, which can apply up to 9% elongation to the chain, yielding tunable light-emitting wavelengths from 345 to 561 nm.