Quantized conductance observed during sintering of silver nanoparticles by intense terahertz pulses

TL;DR

This study demonstrates that intense terahertz pulses can sinter silver nanoparticles, creating atomically thin wires with quantized conductance, revealing a new method for nanoscale structural processing.

Contribution

It is the first to show that terahertz pulses induce quantum conductance during nanoparticle sintering, forming atomically thin wires with quantized conductance.

Findings

Quantized conductance observed during sintering.

Terahertz pulses activate electromigration in silver.

Atomically thin wires form under intense terahertz irradiation.

Abstract

We show that silver nanoparticles, which are deposited on a terahertz-receiving antenna, can be sintered by intense terahertz pulse irradiation. The conductance of the silver nanoparticles between the antenna electrodes is measured under the terahertz pulse irradiation. The dispersant materials surrounding the nanoparticles are peeled off, and conduction paths are created. We reveal that, during sintering, quantum point contacts are formed, leading to quantized conductance between the electrodes with the conductance quantum, which reflects the formation of atomically thin wires. The terahertz electric pulses are sufficiently intense to activate electromigration, i.e., transfer of kinetic energy from the electrons to the silver atoms. The silver atoms move and atomically thin wires form under the intense terahertz pulse irradiation. These findings may inspire nanoscale structural processing by terahertz pulse irradiation