Conductance of Pd-H nanojunctions

Csonka, Sz.; Halbritter, A.; Mihaly, G.; Shklyarevskii, O. I.; Speller, S.; van Kempen, H.

Conductance of Pd-H nanojunctions

Authors

Description

Results of an experimental study of palladium nanojunctions in hydrogen environment are presented. Two new hydrogen-related atomic configurations are found, which have a conductances of ~0.5 and ~1 quantum unit (2e^2/h). Phonon spectrum measurements demonstrate that these configurations are situated between electrodes containing dissolved hydrogen. The crucial differences compared to the previously studied Pt-H_2 junctions, and the possible microscopic realizations of the new configurations in palladium-hydrogen atomic-sized contacts are discussed.
4 pages, 4 figures