A nanoelectromechanical single-atom switch.
We have exploited the electromechanical properties of gated mechanical break junctions to form single-atom relays. The gate voltage can be used to reversibly switch between a monatomic contact with a conductance around 2e(2)/h and the tunneling regime. In tunneling, the source-drain conductance varies smoothly with gate voltage. The characteristics of the devices can be understood within a simple continuum model. It indicates that the elastic properties of the substrate facilitate the electromechanical tuning and that the details of the switching depend sensitively on the nanoscale geometry of the electrode tips.
Martin
Christian A
CA
Kavli Institute of Nanoscience, Delft University of Technology, Lorentzweg 1, 2628 CJ Delft, The Netherlands. martin@physics.leidenuniv.nl
Smit
Roel H M
RH
van der Zant
Herre S J
HS
van Ruitenbeek
Jan M
JM