Electronic transport calculations for rough interfaces in Al, Cu, Ag, and Au

TL;DR

This paper investigates how different types of interface roughness, such as vacancies and impurities, affect electronic transmission and I-V characteristics in metallic interfaces of Al, Cu, Ag, and Au using advanced computational methods.

Contribution

It introduces a detailed computational approach to analyze the impact of various interface roughness types on electronic transport in metals.

Findings

Interface roughness reduces transmission coefficients.

Vacancies and impurities significantly alter I-V characteristics.

Different metals show distinct sensitivities to roughness types.

Abstract

We present results of electronic structure and transport calculations for metallic interfaces, based on density functional theory and the non-equilibrium Green's functions method. Starting from the electronic structure of smooth Al, Cu, Ag, and Au interfaces, we study the effects of different kinds of interface roughness on the transmission coefficient and the I-V characteristic. In particular, we compare prototypical interface distortions, including vacancies and metallic impurities.