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The continuing miniaturization of microelectronics raises the prospect of nanometre-scale devices with mechanical and electrical properties that are qualitatively different from those at larger dimensions. The investigation of these properties, and particularly the increasing influence of quantum effects on electron transport, has therefore attracted much interest. Quantum properties of the conductance can be observed when `breaking a metallic contact: as two metal electrodes in contact with each other are slowly retracted, the contact area undergoes structural rearrangements until it consists in its final stages of only a few bridging atoms. Just before the abrubt transition to tunneling occurs, the electrical conductance through a monovalent metal contact is always close to a value of 2e^2/h, where e is the charge on an electron and h is Placks constant. This value corresponds to one quantum unit of conductance, thus indicating that the `neck of the contact consists of a single atom. In contrast to previous observations of only single-atom necks, here we describe the breaking of atomic-scale gold contacts, which leads to the formation of gold chains one atom thick and at least four atoms long. Once we start to pull out a chain, the conductance never exceeds 2e^2/h, confirming that it acts as a one-dimensional quantized nanowire. Given their high stability and the ability to support ballistic electron transport, these structures seem well suited for the investigation of atomic-scale electronics.
A scanning tunneling microscope (STM) supplemented with a force sensor is used to study the mechanical properties of a novel metallic nanostructure: a freely suspended chain of single gold atoms. We find that the bond strength of the nanowire is abou
Using a scanning tunneling microscope or mechanically controllable break junctions it has been shown that it is possible to control the formation of a wire made of single gold atoms. In these experiments an interatomic distance between atoms in the c
The magnetic properties of a monolayer of Fe4 single molecule magnets grafted onto a Au (111) thin film have been investigated using low energy muon spin rotation. The properties of the monolayer are compared to bulk Fe4. We find that the magnetic pr
Cutting-edge research in the band engineering of nanowires at the ultimate fine scale is related to the minimum scale of a nanowire-based device. The fundamental issue at the subnanometre scale is whether angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (AR
Colour centres with long-lived spins are established platforms for quantum sensing and quantum information applications. Colour centres exist in different charge states, each of them with distinct optical and spin properties. Application to quantum t