Mechanical properties of metallic nanocontacts

Abstract

The mechanical properties of the reduced number of atoms forming the apex of a tip are interesting both from a fundamental point of view and for the interpretation of experiments related to scanning local probe methods. These mechanical properties can be studied by establishing a very small contact, a nanocontact, between a tip and a surface. The elasticity and fracture events during the controlled breaking of a nanocontact as the tip is separated from the surface provide information about the mechanical properties of the tip apex. In the case of metallic tips, electron transport through the nanocontact also provides information on its mechanical properties, because at the scale of a few atoms forming the nanocontact the mechanical and electron transport properties are strongly related.