Berlin 2015 – scientific programme

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TT: Fachverband Tiefe Temperaturen

TT 103: Transport: Poster Session

TT 103.6: Poster

Thursday, March 19, 2015, 15:00–18:00, Poster B

Conductance hysteresis during forming and breaking of single-atom contacts on Pb(111) — •Martin Müller¹, Nicolas Néel¹, Carlos Salgado², Juan Jose Palacios², and Jörg Kröger¹ — ¹Institut für Physik, TU Ilmenau, D-98693 Ilmenau — ²Departamento de Física de la Materia Condensada, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Cantoblanco, 28049 Madrid, Spain

Single-atom junctions were fabricated from Pb-coated W tips of a scanning tunneling microscope and a Pb(111) surface. Conductance traces were simultaneously recorded with tip approach up to contact and retraction. A pronounced hysteresis was observed between the abrupt formation of the contact and its gradual breaking. The hysteresis width and the conductance in contact depend on the tip geometry and contact position. Supporting ab initio calculations reproduce contact conductances and hysteresis widths and highlight the importance of the junction geometry. Financial support by the Carl Zeiss foundation is acknowledged.