Magnetotransport in atomic-size bismuth contacts

Abstract

We report low-temperature transport experiments on atomic-size contacts of bismuth that are fabricated using the mechanically controlled break-junction technique at low temperatures. We observe stable contacts with conductance values at fractions of one conductance quantum G0 = 2e2/h, as is expected for systems with long Fermi wavelength. We defer two preferred conductance scales: the lower one is in the order of 0.015 G0 and can be attributed to singleatom Bi contact, while the higher one amounts to 0.15 G0, as indicated by the appearance of multiples of this value in the conductance histogram. Rich magneto-transport behaviour with significant changes in the magneto-conductance is found in the whole conductance range. Although for the pristine samples and large contacts with G > 5 G0, indications for Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations are present, the smallest contacts show pronounced conductance fluctuations that decay rapidly when a magnetic field is applied. Moreover, large variations are observed when a finite bias voltage is applied. These findings are interpreted as the transition from the diffusive to the ballistic and the ultra-quantum regime when lowering the contact size.