M-atom conductance oscillations of a metallic quantum wire

TL;DR

This paper analyzes electron transport in monoatomic metallic wires, deriving formulas for conductance oscillations related to wire length and energy, revealing periodic behaviors and charge distributions.

Contribution

It introduces analytical formulas for conductance oscillations in metallic quantum wires and explores their relation to wire length, energy, and charge distribution.

Findings

Conductance exhibits M-atom oscillations with wire length.

Maxima of transmittance determine the conductance period.

Average wire charge correlates with conductance oscillation period.

Abstract

The electron transport through a monoatomic metallic wire connected to leads is investigated using the tight-binding Hamiltonian and Green's function technique. Analytical formulas for the transmittance are derived and M-atom oscillations of the conductance versus the length of the wire are found. Maxima of the transmittance function versus the energy, for the wire consisted of N atoms, determine the (N+1) period of the conductance. The periods of conductance oscillations are discussed and the local and average quantum wire charges are presented. The average charge of the wire is linked with the period of the conductance oscillations and it tends to the constant value as the length of the wire increases. For M-atom periodicity there are possible (M-1) average occupations of the wire states.