title: Conductance histogram evolution of an EC-MCBJ fabricated Au atomic point contact.
abstract: This work presents a study of Au conductance quantization based on a combined electrochemical deposition and mechanically controllable break junction (MCBJ) method. We describe the microfabrication process and discuss improved features of our microchip structure compared to the previous one. The improved structure prolongs the available life of the microchip and also increases the success rate of the MCBJ experiment. Stepwise changes in the current were observed at the last stage of atomic point contact breakdown and conductance histograms were constructed. The evolution of 1G0 peak height in conductance histograms was used to investigate the probability of formation of an atomic point contact. It has been shown that the success rate in forming an atomic point contact can be improved by decreasing the stretching speed and the degree that the two electrodes are brought into contact. The repeated breakdown and formation over thousands of cycles led to a distinctive increase of 1G0 peak height in the conductance histograms, and this increased probability of forming a single atomic point contact is discussed.
authors: State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces and Department of Chemistry, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, People's Republic of China.
authors: Yang
authors: Y
authors: Yang
authors: Jun-Yang
authors: JY
authors: Liu
authors: Zhao-Bin
authors: ZB
authors: Chen
authors: Jing-Hua
authors: JH
authors: Tian
authors: Xi
authors: X
authors: Jin
authors: Bo
authors: B
authors: Liu
authors: Xiulan
authors: X
authors: Li
authors: Zhong-Zi
authors: ZZ
authors: Luo
authors: Miao
authors: M
authors: Lu
authors: Fang-Zu
authors: FZ
authors: Yang
authors: Nongjian
authors: N
authors: Tao
authors: Zhong-Qun
authors: ZQ
authors: Tian