Mechanical annealing of metallic electrodes at the atomic scale
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Title: | Mechanical annealing of metallic electrodes at the atomic scale |
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Authors: | Sabater, Carlos | Untiedt, Carlos | Palacios Burgos, Juan José | Caturla, Maria J. |
Research Group/s: | Grupo de Nanofísica | Física de la Materia Condensada |
Center, Department or Service: | Universidad de Alicante. Departamento de Física Aplicada |
Keywords: | Nanocontacts | Conductance | Mechanical annealing | Metallic electrodes | Atomic scale |
Knowledge Area: | Física de la Materia Condensada | Física Aplicada |
Issue Date: | 18-May-2012 |
Publisher: | American Physical Society |
Citation: | SABATER, C., et al. “Mechanical annealing of metallic electrodes at the atomic scale”. Physical Review Letters. Vol. 108, No. 20 (18 May 2012). ISSN 0031-9007, pp. 205502-1/5 |
Abstract: | 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 behavior can be obtained for hundreds of cycles of formation and rupture of the nanocontact by limiting the indentation depth between the two electrodes up to a conductance value of approximately 5G0 in the case of gold. This phenomenon is rationalized using molecular dynamics simulations together with density functional theory transport calculations which show how, after repeated indentations (mechanical annealing), the two metallic electrodes are shaped into tips of reproducible structure. These results provide a crucial insight into fundamental aspects relevant to nanotribology or scanning probe microscopies. |
Sponsor: | This work was supported by the Spanish government through Grants No. FIS2010-21883 and No. CONSOLIDER CSD2007-0010. |
URI: | http://hdl.handle.net/10045/25204 |
ISSN: | 0031-9007 (Print) | 1079-7114 (Online) |
DOI: | 10.1103/PhysRevLett.108.205502 |
Language: | eng |
Type: | info:eu-repo/semantics/article |
Rights: | © 2012 American Physical Society |
Peer Review: | si |
Publisher version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.108.205502 |
Appears in Collections: | INV - Grupo de Nanofísica - Artículos de Revistas INV - Física de la Materia Condensada - Artículos de Revistas |
Files in This Item:
File | Description | Size | Format | |
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2012_PhysRevLett.108.205502.pdf | 1,71 MB | Adobe PDF | Open Preview | |
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