Introduction to transport in confined geometries an across point contacts


Introduction to transport in confined geometries an across point contacts

Erbe, A.

The size of electrical components has been scaled down by several orders of magnitude during the past decades arriving at structure sizes of only tens of nanometers in modern circuits. Electrical current on the nanocale obeys different laws than in macroscopic conductors. The resistance of macroscopic conductors is described by Ohm’s law, assuming diffusive charge transport carried by the conduction electrons. At small length scales this concept cannot be applied any more, electrons move ballistically at these length scales and transport needs to be described using a scattering approach. We will review the concepts used to describe mesoscopic conductors and give examples for typical structures that can be treated using these concepts.
Mechanically controllable breakjunctions (MCBJs) are excellent tools to form stable metallic contacts consisting of single atoms, only. In these devices, a tiny metallic bridge is broken by mechanically bending the underlying substrate. During the breaking, the number of atoms taking part in the conduction is reduced gradually, leading to a step-wise decrease of the conductance of the whole junction. This behavior is understood by taking the atomic orbitals, which contribute to the conductance mechanism, into account1. We will show how the experimental results showing this behavior can be obtained and compared to theoretical predictions. Apart from being a fascinating model system for mesoscopic conductance, MCBJs can be used for making contacts to other nanoscale conductors, such as single molecules. We will give a brief introduction on the transport mechanisms involved in single molecule conductance and show measurements of such systems using MCBJs2.

1. Scheer, E. et al. The signature of chemical valence in the electrical conduction through a single-atom contact. Nature 394, 154–157 (1998).
2. Zotti, L. A. et al. Revealing the Role of Anchoring Groups in the Electrical Conduction Through Single-Molecule Junctions. Small 6, 1529–1535 (2010).

  • Invited lecture (Conferences)
    MAINZ summer school, 25.-29.08.2014, Mainz, Deutschland

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Publ.-Id: 21538