Regensburg 2004 – scientific programme

Parts | Days | Selection | Search | Downloads | Help

O: Oberflächenphysik

O 24: Nanostrukturen II

O 24.5: Talk

Tuesday, March 9, 2004, 16:45–17:00, H38

Quantum effects in atom-sized contacts — •A.L. Klavsyuk¹, A.N. Baranov¹, V.S. Stepanyuk², W. Hergert¹, P. Bruno², and I. Mertig¹ — ¹Fachbereich Physik, Martin-Luther-Universität, Von-Seckendorff-Platz 1, 06120 Halle, Germany — ²Max-Planck-Institut für Mikrostrukturphysik, Weinberg 2, D-06120 Halle, Germany

The interplay between structure and quantum effects in atomic nanocontacts is investigated. Our approach is based on density functional theory and the Korringa-Kohn-Rostoker Green’s function method. Atomic relaxations of nanocontacts and electrodes are calculated with ab initio based many body potentials for low-dimensional systems. We concentrate on Cu, Fe, Co, Rh and Pd atomic bridges. The quantum size effect is found to be dominated by unoccupied electronic states and leads to an enhancement of the LDOS at the Fermi level as the number of atoms in the contact increases. We show that the atomic bridges constructed from non-magnetic in bulk Rh and Pd can be magnetic.