Abstract
Since the development of the scanning tunneling microscope (STM) [1] it is not only possible to see, but also to manipulate and to measure the transport properties of individual atoms on surfaces [2]. By energy dependent measurements of the differential conductance a certain chemical information can be achieved [3]. The challenging aim of building up electronic circuits atom by atom with tailor-made properties, however, would require the detailed knowledge of the relation between the physical and chemical properties of the respective atoms and their conduction properties, a problem which has been addressed by different methods during the last years [4, 5, 6]. The most simple system for all investigations - including the present - is a one-atom contact between two metallic banks of the same element.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
G. Binnig, H. Rohrer, Ch. Gerber and E. Weibel, Tunneling through a controllable vacuum gap, Appl. Phys. Lett. 40, 178–180 (1982).
M. F. Crommie, C. P. Lutz and D. M. Eigler, Confinement of electrons to quantum corrals on a metal surface, Science 262, 218–220 (1993)
G. Binnig, H. Rohrer, Scanning tunneling microscopy, IBM J. Res. Dev. 30, 355 (1986).
N. D. Lang, Resistance of atomic wires, Phys. Rev. B 52, 5335–5342 (1995).
C. C. Wan, J.-L. Mozos, G. Taraschi, J. Wang and H. Guo, Quantum transport through atomic wires, Appl. Phys. Lett. 71, 419–421 (1997).
A. Yazdani, D. M. Eigler and N. D. Lang, Off-resonance conductance through atomic wires, Science 272, 1921–1924 (1996).
R. Landauer, Electrical resistance of disordered one-dimensional lattices. Philos. M. 21, 863–867 (1970).
J. C. Cuevas, A. Levy Yeyati and A. Martin-Rodero, Microscopic origin of the conducting channels in metallic atomic-size contacts, Phys. Rev. Lett. 80, 1066–1069 (1998).
A. Levy Yeyati, A. Martin-Rodero and F. Flores, Conductance quantization and electron resonances in sharp tips and atomic size contacts, Phys. Rev. B 56, 10369–10372 (1997).
E. Scheer, P. Joyez, D. Esteve, C. Urbina and M. H. Devoret, Conduction channel transmission of atomic-size aluminum contacts, Phys. Rev. Lett. 78, 3535–3538 (1997).
G. B. Arnold, Tunneling without the tunneling Hamiltonian II. Subgap harmonic structure, Journal of Low Temp. Phys. 68, 1–27 (1987).
D. Averin and A. Bardas, AC Josephson effect in a single quantum channel, Phys. Rev. Lett. 75, 1831–1834 (1995).
J. C. Cuevas, A. Martin-Rodero and A. Levy Yeyati, Hamiltonian approach to the transport properties of superconducting quantum point contacts, Phys. Rev. B 54, 7366–7379 (1996).
E. N. Bratus, V. S. Shumeiko, E. V. Bezuglyi and G. Wendin, dc-current transport and ac Josephson effect in quantum junctions at low voltage, Phys. Rev. B 55, 12666–12677 (1997).
D. Esteve, The proximity effect in mesoscopic diffusive conductors. In Mesoscopic Electron Transport (eds. L. L. Sohn, L. P. Kouwenhoven and G. Schön, Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1997) pp. 375–406, and references therein.
W. Belzig, F. K. Wilhelm, C. Bruder, G. Schön and A. D. Zaikin, Quasiclassical Greens function approach to mesoscopic superconductivity, Superlattices and Microstructures 25, 1251–1288 (1999).
E. Scheer, W. Belzig, Y. Naveh, D. Esteve, M. H. Devoret and C. Urbina, Proximity effect and multiple Andreev reflections in gold atomic contacts, submitted for publication.
L. Olesen, E. Lgsgaard, I. Stensgaard, F. Besenbacher, J. Schiotz, P. Stoltze, K. W. Jacobsen and J. K. Norskov, Quantized conductance in an atom-sized point contact, Phys. Rev. Lett. 72, 2251–2254 (1994).
N. Agrait, J. G. Rodrigo and S. Vieira, Conductance steps and quantization in atomic-size contacts, Phys. Rev. B 47, 12345–12348 (1996).
J. M. van Ruitenbeek, Quantum point contacts between metals; in Mesoscopic Electron Transport (eds. L. L. Sohn, L. P. Kouwenhoven and G. Schön, Kluwer Academic Publishers) pp. 549–579, and references therein.
J. M. van Ruitenbeek, A. Alvarez, I. Piiieyro, C. Grahmann, P. Joyez, M. H. Devoret, D. Esteve and C. Urbina, Adjustable nanofabricated atomic size contacts Rev. Sci. Inst. 67, 108–111 (1996).
E. Scheer, P. Joyez, D. Esteve, C. Urbina and M. H. Devoret, Conduction channels of superconducting quantum point contacts, to appear in Physica B.
E. Scheer, N. Agraït, J. C. Cuevas, A. Levy Yeyati, B. Ludoph, A. Martin-Rodero, G. Rubio Bollinger, J. M. van Ruitenbeek and C. Urbina, The signature of chemical valence in the conduction through a single-atom contact, Nature 394, 154–157 (1998).
The Al sample has been fabricated as explained in [10] within a single evaporation step through a mask without the bridge.
C. Untiedt, G. Rubio, S. Vieira and N. Agraït, Fabrication and characterization of metallic nanowires, Phys. Rev. B 56, 1251–1288 (1997).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2000 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Scheer, E., Belzig, W., Devoret, M.H., Esteve, D., Urbina, C. (2000). Conductance Channels of Gold Atomic-Size 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_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-4327-1_2
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-0-7923-6626-3
Online ISBN: 978-94-011-4327-1
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive