Quantum transport properties of ultrathin silver nanowires

The quantum transport properties of ultrathin silver nanowires are investigated. For a perfect crystalline nanowire with four atoms per unit cell, three conduction channels are found, corresponding to three s bands crossing the Fermi level. One conductance channel is disrupted by a single-atom defec...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nanotechnology 2003-05, Vol.14 (5), p.501-504
Main Authors: Zhao, Jijun, Buia, Calin, Han, Jie, Lu, Jian Ping
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Condensed matter: electronic structure, electrical, magnetic, and optical properties
Electronic structure and electrical properties of surfaces, interfaces, thin films and low-dimensional structures
Electronic transport in mesoscopic systems
Exact sciences and technology
Mesoscopic systems
Physics
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Summary:The quantum transport properties of ultrathin silver nanowires are investigated. For a perfect crystalline nanowire with four atoms per unit cell, three conduction channels are found, corresponding to three s bands crossing the Fermi level. One conductance channel is disrupted by a single-atom defect, either adding or removing one atom. The quantum interference effect leads to oscillation of conductance versus the inter-defect distance. In the presence of a multiple-atom defect, one conduction channel remains robust at the Fermi level regardless the details of defect configuration. The histogram of conductance calculated for a finite nanowire (seven atoms per cross section) with a large number of random defect configurations agrees well with recent experiments.
ISSN:0957-4484
1361-6528
DOI:10.1088/0957-4484/14/5/304