Sub-nm guy
New member
The mean-free path for electrons in unbounded pure metals is as long as 68 nm which may exceed the length of a nanoscale circuit. However, surprisingly others have shown that the scattering of electrons at the outer cylindrical surface of a nanoscale wire, as well as at grain boundaries within the wire, cause the electrical resistance of the wire to be proportional to the mean-free path.
In order to determine how to reduce the effects of scattering at the outer surface of the wire, as well as grain boundaries, we have simulated nanoscale circuits in which a single-crystal metallic wire is used and a tunneling junction is inserted into the circuit. The purpose of the tunneling junction is to collimate and focus the current near the axis at the flat end of the wire. These simulations suggest that the electrical current has a series of extremely sharp resonances which depend on the length of the wire, the length of tune tunneling junction, the work function of the metal and the electron energy. Analysis suggests that these resonances are caused by transits of the electrons in both directions through the entire circuit (ArXiv-2009.12575, Sept. 25, 2020).
We have purchased a scanning tunneling microscope and a mode-locked laser to make related experiments in our laboratory. This will extend our earlier work in 12 visits to the Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies (CINT) at Los Alamos National Laboratory [e.g. Hagmann, Stenger, and Yarotski, J. Appl. Phys. 114 (2013) 223107]. I would appreciate your comments and suggestions and I would also welcome opportunities for discussion and possible collaboration.
In order to determine how to reduce the effects of scattering at the outer surface of the wire, as well as grain boundaries, we have simulated nanoscale circuits in which a single-crystal metallic wire is used and a tunneling junction is inserted into the circuit. The purpose of the tunneling junction is to collimate and focus the current near the axis at the flat end of the wire. These simulations suggest that the electrical current has a series of extremely sharp resonances which depend on the length of the wire, the length of tune tunneling junction, the work function of the metal and the electron energy. Analysis suggests that these resonances are caused by transits of the electrons in both directions through the entire circuit (ArXiv-2009.12575, Sept. 25, 2020).
We have purchased a scanning tunneling microscope and a mode-locked laser to make related experiments in our laboratory. This will extend our earlier work in 12 visits to the Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies (CINT) at Los Alamos National Laboratory [e.g. Hagmann, Stenger, and Yarotski, J. Appl. Phys. 114 (2013) 223107]. I would appreciate your comments and suggestions and I would also welcome opportunities for discussion and possible collaboration.