Effects of resonant scattering by probe contacts on nanoscale four-probe resistance measurements

Abstract

The oscillation of the four-probe electric resistance of monatomic carbon chains as a function of electron energy was theoretically analysed on the basis of non-equilibrium Green's function formalism and the self-consistent charge density-functional tight-binding method. We constructed spectra from the spacing of the oscillation peaks in four-probe resistance spectra. The interference effect caused by multiple reflections and resonant scattering at the contacts were extracted separately from the peak spacing spectra. Analysis of the peak spacing spectra may provide a powerful tool to extract information about scattering processes in four-probe resistance measurements.