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Formation and manipulation of a metallic wire of single gold atoms

Nature volume 395, pages 783–785 (1998)Cite this article

Abstract

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 properties, and particularly the increasing influence of quantum effects on electron transport, has therefore attracted much interest. Quantum properties of the conductance can be observed when ‘breaking’ a metallic contact: as two metal electrodes in contact with each other are slowly retracted, the contact area undergoes structural rearrangements until it consists in its final stages of only a few bridging atoms1,2,3. Just before the abrupt transition to tunnelling occurs, the electrical conductance through a monovalent metal contact is always close to a value of 2e2/h (≈12.9 Ω−1), where e is the charge on an electron and h is Planck's constant4,5,6. This value corresponds to one quantum unit of conductance, thus indicating that the ‘neck’ of the contact consists of a single atom7. In contrast to previous observations of only single-atom necks, here we describe the breaking of atomic-scale gold contacts, which leads to the formation of gold chains one atom thick and at least four atoms long. Once we start to pull out a chain, the conductance never exceeds 2e2/h, confirming that it acts as a one-dimensional quantized nanowire. Given their high stability and the ability to support ballistic electron transport, these structures seem well suited for the investigation of atomic-scale electronics.

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Figure 1: Conductance as a function of the displacement of the two gold electrodes with respect to each other in an MCB experiment at 42 K.
Figure 2: The distribution of lengths for the last plateau, obtained in ∼100,000 experiments similar to those described in Fig. 1, shows a number of equidistant maxima.
Figure 3: Swinging an atomic contact sideways by lateral displacement of one of its ends in an STM experiment.

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Acknowledgements

We thank B. Ludoph for many discussions, S. Vieira and L. J. de Jongh for discussions and continuous support, and A. P. Sutton, T. N. Todorov, M. R. Sørensen, M. Brandbyge and K. W. Jacobsen for communicating their results before publication. A.I.Y., H.E.v.d.B. and J.M.v.R. were supported by FOM; N.A. and G.R.B. were supported by the CICYT.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Kamerlingh Onnes Laboratorium, Leiden University, PO Box 9504, NL-2300 RA, Leiden, The Netherlands

    A. I. Yanson, H. E. van den Brom & J. M. van Ruitenbeek

  2. Laboratorio de Bajas Temperaturas, Dept Física de la Materia Condensada C-III, Instituto Universitario de Ciencia de Materiales “Nicolás Cabrera”, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, E-28049, Madrid, Spain

    G. Rubio Bollinger & N. Agraït

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  1. A. I. Yanson
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  2. G. Rubio Bollinger
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  5. J. M. van Ruitenbeek
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Correspondence to J. M. van Ruitenbeek.

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Yanson, A., Bollinger, G., van den Brom, H. et al. Formation and manipulation of a metallic wire of single gold atoms. Nature 395, 783–785 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1038/27405

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