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Nonlinear Phenomena in Metallic Contacts

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Quantum Mesoscopic Phenomena and Mesoscopic Devices in Microelectronics

Part of the book series: NATO Science Series ((ASIC,volume 559))

Abstract

We review and extend theoretical approaches to nonlinear and nonequilibrium effects in metallic microcontacts ranging in their dimension from the atomic to macroscopic sizes. Atomic contacts are shown to quantize their conductance in units of 2e2/h provided the charge redistributes near the constriction to establish the maximal electron transmittivity through the orifice. Ballistic semiclassical contacts are treated both from the Landauer point of view and from the Boltzmann transport theory. The J-V nonlinearity in contacts is related to the inelastic scattering near the narrowest part of the constriction and permits for spectroscopic investigation of phonons in solids (the point-contact spectroscopy).The effects of phonon emission and reabsorption in contacts are taken into consideration. Phonon relaxation is shown to determine the frequency dependence of the nonlinear contact conductivity. Thermal contacts develop specific nonequilibrium states with hot spots in the center of metallic constriction whose temperature is much in excess of the ambient contact temperature and is uniquely related to voltage.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, Bilkent University Ankara, 06533, Turkey

    I. O. Kulik

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  1. Department of Physics, Bilkent University, Bilkent, Ankara, Turkey

    Igor O. Kulik  & Recai Ellialtioğlu  & 

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Kulik, I.O. (2000). Nonlinear Phenomena in Metallic Contacts. In: Kulik, I.O., Ellialtioğlu, R. (eds) Quantum Mesoscopic Phenomena and Mesoscopic Devices in Microelectronics. NATO Science Series, vol 559. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-4327-1_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-4327-1_1

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-0-7923-6626-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-011-4327-1

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