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    Prediction of the lightest three-dimensional diamond-like fullerene phase with orbital-coupling-tunable pseudo-Dirac states and flat band states

    Yandi Zhu1, Xiaoyan Ren1, Lili Zhang1, Panshuo Wang1, Hao He1, Lin Dong1, Xigui Yang1,2, Chongxin Shan1,2, Xingju Zhao1,2,* et al.

    Shunfang Li1,2,†

    • *Contact author: zhaoxingju@zzu.edu.cn
    • †Contact author: sflizzu@zzu.edu.cn

    Phys. Rev. Materials 10, 086001 – Published 24 August, 2026

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/982h-91sf

    Abstract

    The discovery of novel carbon allotropes—from fullerenes and nanotubes to graphene—has greatly advanced contemporary materials research. Beyond conventional atomic crystals, superatomic solids provide an attractive platform for exploring structure-property relationships arising from their unique hierarchical architectures. Here, using state-of-the-art first-principles calculations, we propose a three-dimensional (3D) diamond-like fullerene (C60) phase, dubbed fullerdiamond (FLD), constructed by substituting each carbon atom in diamond with a C60 superatom, where each C60 covalently connects to its four neighbors via four 66/66 [2+2] cycloadditions. Our calculations reveal that FLD is structurally stable, with the lowest density (1.098 g/cm3) among diamond-type structures and anisotropic Young's moduli of 50.91∼85.35 GPa. Its electronic structure exhibits a sizable indirect band gap of 1.83 eV and two distinctive features: (i) an accidental pseudo-Dirac cone (∼57 meV gap) in the conduction band arising from antibonding coupling between LUMO states of neighboring C60 superatoms, and (ii) a narrow flat band (∼104 meV) in the valence band. Moreover, a tensile strain of ∼3% along the [100] direction weakens the antibonding orbital coupling between neighboring C60 superatoms through elongation of the inter-cage [2+2] cycloaddition bonds, reducing the accidental pseudo-Dirac gap to ∼4 meV and narrowing the flat band width to ∼88 meV. This strain-tunable electronic behavior—arising from the sensitivity of inter-C60 orbital coupling to lattice deformation—establishes a conceptual bridge between fullerene molecular physics and diamond-like 3D superatomic solid physics. Our findings highlight FLD as a promising platform for tuning electronic and optical properties in lightweight carbon-based materials.

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