Electronic switches with nanoscale dimensions satisfy an urgent demand for further device miniaturization.A recent heavily investigated approach for nanoswitches is the use of molecular junctions that employ photochro...Electronic switches with nanoscale dimensions satisfy an urgent demand for further device miniaturization.A recent heavily investigated approach for nanoswitches is the use of molecular junctions that employ photochromic molecules that toggle between two distinct isoforms.In contrast to the reports on this approach,we demonstrate that the conductance switch behavior can be realized with only a bare metallic contact without any molecules under light illumination.We demonstrate that the conductance of bare metallic quantum contacts can be reversibly switched over eight orders of magnitude,which substantially exceeds the performance of molecular switches.After the switch process,the gap size between two electrodes can be precisely adjusted with subangstrom accuracy by controlling the light intensity or polarization.Supported by simulations,we reveal a more general and straightforward mechanism for nanoswitching behavior,i.e.,atomic switches can be realized by the expansion of nanoelectrodes due to plasmonic heating.展开更多
基金the financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China(61571242,61775105,11504270)the National Key Research and Development program of China(Grant no.2017YFA0205700)+1 种基金the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities of Chinathe National Creative Research Laboratory program(Grant no.2012026372)via the National Research Foundation of Korea.
文摘Electronic switches with nanoscale dimensions satisfy an urgent demand for further device miniaturization.A recent heavily investigated approach for nanoswitches is the use of molecular junctions that employ photochromic molecules that toggle between two distinct isoforms.In contrast to the reports on this approach,we demonstrate that the conductance switch behavior can be realized with only a bare metallic contact without any molecules under light illumination.We demonstrate that the conductance of bare metallic quantum contacts can be reversibly switched over eight orders of magnitude,which substantially exceeds the performance of molecular switches.After the switch process,the gap size between two electrodes can be precisely adjusted with subangstrom accuracy by controlling the light intensity or polarization.Supported by simulations,we reveal a more general and straightforward mechanism for nanoswitching behavior,i.e.,atomic switches can be realized by the expansion of nanoelectrodes due to plasmonic heating.
