Magnetically hindered chain formation in transition-metal break junctions

Abstract

Based on first-principles calculations, we demonstrate that magnetism impedes the formation of long chains in break junctions. We find a distinct softening of the binding energy of atomic chains due to the creation of magnetic moments that crucially reduces the probability of successful chain formation. Thereby, we are able to explain the long standing puzzle why most of the transition-metals do not assemble as long chains in break junctions and provide thus an indirect evidence that in general suspended atomic chains in transition-metal break junctions are magnetic.

5 pages, 3 figures

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Cited by in corpus (6)

• Shot noise and magnetism of Pt atomic chains: accumulation of points at the boundary
• Competing magnetic anisotropies in atomic-scale junctions
• Spin-exchange-induced dimerization of an atomic 1-D system
• Modelling impurity-assisted chain creation in noble-metal break junctions
• Conductance fingerprints of non-collinear magnetic states in single atom contacts: a first-principles Wannier functions study
• Magnetism- and impurity-assisted chain creation in Ir and Pt break junctions