Related papers: Pre-selectable integer quantum conductance of elec…
We have analyzed the atomic arrangements and quantum conductance of silver nanowires generated by mechanical elongation. The surface properties of Ag induce unexpected structural properties, as for example, predominance of high aspect ratio…
We fabricated strongly confined Schottky-gated quantum point contacts by etching Si/SiGe heterostructures and observed intriguing conductance quantization in units of approximately 1e2/h. Non-linear conductance measurements were performed…
The conductance through a quantum point contact created by a sharp and hard metal tip on the graphite surface has features which to our knowledge have not been encountered so far in metal contacts or in nanowires. In this paper we first…
The process of creating an atomically defined and robust metallic tip is described and quantified using measurements of contact conductance between gold electrodes and numerical simulations. Our experiments show how the same conductance…
Atomic-sized lead (Pb) contacts are deposited and dissolved in an electrochemical environment, and their transport properties are measured. Due to the electrochemical fabrication process, we obtain mechanically unstrained contacts and…
We describe a method for creating atomic-scale electric contacts. A metal source is deposited on two insulating substrates separated by a 70 nm gap. Electric conductance across the gap is monitored, while protrusions from the bulk extend…
The continuing miniaturization of microelectronics raises the prospect of nanometre-scale devices with mechanical and electrical properties that are qualitatively different from those at larger dimensions. The investigation of these…
The temperature dependence of the conductance of a quantum point contact has been measured. The conductance as a function of the Fermi energy shows temperature-independent fixed points, located at roughly multiple integers of $e^{2}/h$.…
To develop next-generation electronics and high efficiency energy-harvesting devices, it is crucial to understand how charge and heat are transported at the nanoscale. Metallic atomic-size contacts are ideal systems to probe the quantum…
Electrical conductance through various nanocontacts between gold electrodes is studied by using the density functional theory, scalar-relativistic pseudopotentials, generalized gradient approximation for the exchange-correlation energy and…
Previous efforts to directly write conductive metals have been narrowly focused on nanoparticle ink suspensions that require aggressive sintering (>200 {\deg}C) and result in low-density, small-grained agglomerates with electrical…
The conductance of a single-atom contact is sensitive to the coupling of this contact atom to the atoms in the leads. Notably for the transition metals this gives rise to a considerable spread in the observed conductance values. The mean…
Electrochemical methods have recently become an interesting tool for fabricating and characterizing nanostructures at room temperature. Simplicity, low cost and reversibility are some of the advantages of this technique that allows to work…
Conductance of an Au mono atomic contact was investigated under the electrochemical potential control. The Au contact showed three different behaviors depending on the potential: 1 $G_{0}$ ($G_{0}$ = $2e^{2}/h$), 0.5 $G_{0}$ and not-well…
The point contact of a tunnel tip approaching towards Ag(111) and Cu(111) surfaces is investigated with a low temperature scanning tunneling microscope. A sharp jump-to-contact, random in nature, is observed in the conductance. After point…
We calculate the conductance of a ballistic point contact to a superconducting wire, produced by the s-wave proximity effect in a semiconductor with spin-orbit coupling in a parallel magnetic field. The conductance G as a function of…
Here, we employ a numerical approach to investigate the transport and conductance characteristics of a quantum point contact. A quantum point contact is a narrow constriction of a width comparable to the electron wavelength defined in a…
We present a theoretical study of the transport characteristics of molecular junctions, where first-row diatomic molecules are attached to (001) gold and platinum electrodes. We find that the conductance of all of these junctions is of the…
We review our experiments on the electronic transport properties of atomic contacts between metallic electrodes, in particular superconducting ones. Despite ignorance of the exact atomic configuration, these ultimate quantum point contacts…
We study the negative correction to the quantized value $2e^2/h$ of the conductance of a quantum point contact due to the backscattering of electrons by acoustic phonons. The correction shows activated temperature dependence and also gives…