Recent experiments on Au break junctions [Phys. Rev. Lett. 88 (2002) 216803] have characterized the nonlinear conductance of stretched short Au nanowires. They reveal in the voltage range 10-20 meV the signatures of dissipation effects, likely due to phonons in the nanowire, reducing the conductance below the quantized value of 2e(2)/h. We present here a theory, based on a model tight-binding Hamiltonian and on non-equilibrium Green's function techniques, which accounts for the main features of the experiment. The theory helps in revealing details of the experiment which need to be addressed with a more realistic, less idealized, theoretical framework.
Theory of phonon dissipation in the conduction of stressed Au nanowires / Stella, L; Santoro, Giuseppe Ernesto; Fabrizio, Michele; Tosatti, Erio. - In: SURFACE SCIENCE. - ISSN 0039-6028. - 566:1-3 Part 1(2004), pp. 430-435. [10.1016/j.susc.2004.06.121]
Theory of phonon dissipation in the conduction of stressed Au nanowires
Santoro, Giuseppe Ernesto;Fabrizio, Michele;Tosatti, Erio
2004-01-01
Abstract
Recent experiments on Au break junctions [Phys. Rev. Lett. 88 (2002) 216803] have characterized the nonlinear conductance of stretched short Au nanowires. They reveal in the voltage range 10-20 meV the signatures of dissipation effects, likely due to phonons in the nanowire, reducing the conductance below the quantized value of 2e(2)/h. We present here a theory, based on a model tight-binding Hamiltonian and on non-equilibrium Green's function techniques, which accounts for the main features of the experiment. The theory helps in revealing details of the experiment which need to be addressed with a more realistic, less idealized, theoretical framework.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.