First-principles study of the structure of water layers on flat and stepped Pb electrodes

• Xiaohang Lin,
• Ferdinand Evers and
• Axel Groß

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 533–543, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.47

• realize a single-atom switch by reversibly manipulating atomic-scale quantum point contacts in an electrochemical environment resulting in a single-atom transistor [4][5][6][7] that exhibits an outstanding stability at room temperature. This opens attractive perspectives to prepare quantum devices based

• on atomic-sized conductors [8][9][10][11][12]. However, the microscopic mechanisms underlying the operation of the single-atom transistor [4] are not clear in detail yet. In order to contribute to the understanding of the electrochemical single-atom switch, we addressed fundamental properties of

Reversible mechano-electrochemical writing of metallic nanostructures with the tip of an atomic force microscope

• Christian Obermair,
• Marina Kress,
• Andreas Wagner and
• Thomas Schimmel

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2012, 3, 824–830, doi:10.3762/bjnano.3.92

• ]; transport through single molecules between metallic nanocontacts was studied intensively [15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24]. Even a single-atom transistor [25][26][27][28][29] was demonstrated, i.e., a device that allows the controlled switching “on” and “off” of an electrical current by the

Revealing thermal effects in the electronic transport through irradiated atomic metal point contacts

• Bastian Kopp,
• Zhiwei Yi,
• Daniel Benner,
• Fang-Qing Xie,
• Christian Obermair,
• Thomas Schimmel,
• Johannes Boneberg,
• Paul Leiderer and
• Elke Scheer

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2012, 3, 703–711, doi:10.3762/bjnano.3.80

• layer are the most prominent effects. Keywords: atom transistor; atomic contacts; cyclic voltammogram; electrochemically closed break junction; electronic transport; (Helmholtz) double layer; light-induced signals; temperature-induced changes; thermovoltage; Introduction Electronic transport on the

• type of sample consisted of two Au electrodes, which were immersed in an AgNO3/HNO3 electrolyte and were separated by a 50 nm wide gap. This gap was fabricated by sputtering using a carbon fibre as mask. This is the basis for the atom transistor described by Obermair and co-workers [21][22][23] in more

The atomic force microscope as a mechano–electrochemical pen

• Christian Obermair,
• Andreas Wagner and
• Thomas Schimmel

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2011, 2, 659–664, doi:10.3762/bjnano.2.70

• current by the control-voltage-induced movement of just a single atom [4][5][6][7]. In this way, a single-atom transistor was demonstrated as a quantum electronic device operating reproducibly at room temperature. At the same time, the scanning tunneling microscope (STM) and the atomic force microscope