Channel saturation and conductance quantization in single-atom gold constrictions

TL;DR

This study demonstrates that stable single-atom gold constrictions can exhibit continuous conductance changes, enabling observation of channel saturation and quantization, challenging the reliability of conductance histograms for assessing atomic configurations.

Contribution

It reveals that conductance in single-atom gold constrictions can vary continuously due to elasticity, and questions the effectiveness of histograms for analyzing atomic stability and quantization.

Findings

Conductance can change continuously in stable gold constrictions.

Conductance histograms are unreliable for atomic stability assessment.

Atomic configurations with similar conductance produce histogram peaks.

Abstract

Notwithstanding the discreteness of metallic constrictions, it is shown that the finite elasticity of stable, single-atom gold constrictions allows for a continuous and reversible change in conductance, thereby enabling observation of channel saturation and conductance quantization. The observed channel saturation and signature for conductance quantization is achieved by superposition of atomic/subatomic-scale oscillations on a retracting/approaching gold tip against a gold substrate of a scanning probe. Results also show that conductance histograms are neither suitable for evaluating the stability of atomic configurations through peak positions or peak height nor appropriate for assessing conductance quantization. A large number of atomic configurations with similar conductance values give rise to peaks in the conductance histogram. The positions of the peaks and counts at each peak can be varied by changing the conditions under which the histograms are made. Histogram counts below 1Go cannot necessarily be assumed to arise from single-atom constrictions.