Quantized conductance of a single magnetic atom

Phys Rev Lett. 2009 Feb 27;102(8):086805. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.102.086805. Epub 2009 Feb 25.

Abstract

A single Co atom adsorbed on Cu(111) or on ferromagnetic Co islands is contacted with nonmagnetic W or ferromagnetic Ni tips in a scanning tunneling microscope. When the Co atom bridges two nonmagnetic electrodes a conductance of approximately 2e;{2}/h is found. With two ferromagnetic electrodes a conductance of approximately e;{2}/h is observed.