Hofer, W.A.;
Fisher, A.J.;
(2003)
Signature of a chemical bond in the conductance between two metal surfaces.
Physical Review Letters
, 91
(3)
, Article 036803. 10.1103/PhysRevLett.91.036803.
![[thumbnail of 9526.pdf]](https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/style/images/fileicons/application_pdf.png) Preview |
PDF
9526.pdf Download (96kB) |
Abstract
Conductance in monatomic metal contacts is quantized; it increases in discrete steps of one conductance quantum 2e2/h. By contrast, in a vacuum barrier between two metal surfaces we find that conductance increases linearly and continuously with the interaction energy between individual atoms. This behavior shows unambiguously that current flow between single atoms is a measure for their chemical interaction. In the controlled environment of a scanning tunneling microscope it should allow us to study the formation of covalent bonds up to the point where these atoms finally jump into contact.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Signature of a chemical bond in the conductance between two metal surfaces |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1103/PhysRevLett.91.036803 |
| Publisher version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.91.036803 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | © 2003 The American Physical Society |
| UCL classification: | UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences > Dept of Physics and Astronomy |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/9526 |
Archive Staff Only
 |
View Item |
