Electronic Switch Formed from Single Gold Atoms

A scientist at the University of Groningen has developed a method for creating a nanoscale electronic switch composed of only two single gold atoms.

The process creates a so-called break junction, which involves bending a thin gold wire under very controlled conditions almost to the breaking point. Further bending moves the ends just apart, enough to separate the atoms but not enough to produce a permanent fracture; as the ends are moved back, the material connection reforms. By repeating this process many times, the atoms on each side of the gap reorganize themselves into a regular formation, much like "carefully stacked pyramids of billiard balls with a single atom at the apex." This manufacturing process produces a contact composed of two single gold atoms that can be broken by a 0.1-nm movement to separate them.

Current electronics technology is expected to approach a barrier to miniaturization within the next ten years, as the function of transistors reaches a fundamental physical limit. Atomic-scale nanotechnology is being examined as a method to further miniaturize electronic components by manipulating individual atoms.

These results are part of a doctoral thesis recently defended at the University of Groningen.

Source: ScienceDaily