title: Quantized thermal transport in single-atom junctions.
abstract: Thermal transport in individual atomic junctions and chains is of great fundamental interest because of the distinctive quantum effects expected to arise in them. By using novel, custom-fabricated, picowatt-resolution calorimetric scanning probes, we measured the thermal conductance of gold and platinum metallic wires down to single-atom junctions. Our work reveals that the thermal conductance of gold single-atom junctions is quantized at room temperature and shows that the Wiedemann-Franz law relating thermal and electrical conductance is satisfied even in single-atom contacts. Furthermore, we quantitatively explain our experimental results within the Landauer framework for quantum thermal transport. The experimental techniques reported here will enable thermal transport studies in atomic and molecular chains, which will be key to investigating numerous fundamental issues that thus far have remained experimentally inaccessible.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
authors.forename: Longji
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-0469-3230
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cui
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
authors.forename: Wonho
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-4983-5044
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Jeong
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
authors.forename: Sunghoon
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-6985-5937
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hur
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, University of Konstanz, D-78457 Konstanz, Germany.
authors.forename: Manuel
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-6845-4699
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Matt
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, University of Konstanz, D-78457 Konstanz, Germany.
authors.forename: Jan C
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-1343-9015
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Klöckner
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, University of Konstanz, D-78457 Konstanz, Germany.
authors.forename: Fabian
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-8017-2379
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Pauly
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, University of Konstanz, D-78457 Konstanz, Germany.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Nielaba
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Física Teórica de la Materia Condensada and Condensed Matter Physics Center (IFIMAC), Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid 28049, Spain. juancarlos.cuevas@uam.es meyhofer@umich.edu pramodr@umich.edu.
authors.forename: Juan Carlos
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-7421-0682
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Cuevas
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA. juancarlos.cuevas@uam.es meyhofer@umich.edu pramodr@umich.edu.
authors.forename: Edgar
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-5719-6030
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Meyhofer
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA. juancarlos.cuevas@uam.es meyhofer@umich.edu pramodr@umich.edu.|Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
authors.forename: Pramod
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-7442-6931
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Reddy