Absence of magnetically induced fractional quantization in atomic contacts

Using the mechanically controlled break junction technique at low temperatures and under cryogenic vacuum conditions we have studied atomic contacts of several magnetic (Fe, Co, and Ni) and nonmagnetic (Pt) metals, which recently were claimed to show fractional conductance quantization. In the case of pure metals we see no quantization of the conductance nor half quantization, even when high magnetic fields are applied. On the other hand, features in the conductance similar to (fractional) quantization are observed when the contact is exposed to gas molecules. Furthermore, the absence of fractional quantization when the contact is bridged by H2 indicates the current is never fully polarized for the metals studied here. Our results are in agreement with recent model calculations.

This work is part of the research program of the “Stichting FOM,” which is financially supported by NWO. C.U. acknowledges support of the Spanish Ramón y Cajal program of the MCyT.