Electron transport in atomic-scale devices

Abstract

Advances in nanotechnology have enabled fabrication of devices in the nanoscale regime. At this scale the properties exhibited by materials are markedly different from their macroscopic counterparts due to quantum effects. In order to design nanoscale devices with desired properties, it, therefore, becomes vital to develop proper tool sets to understand properties exhibited by them. This work studies tunnelling current at atomic scales for various scientifically and technologically important systems such as STM and MTJ within theoretical framework. Calculations for various systems like CO adsorbed on Cu(111) surface, reconstructed MoS2 surface and strained Fe|MgO|Fe tunnel junction show that the theory is able to describe as well as explain the experimental observations.