Calculation of the electrical conductance in multi-atom nanoconstrictions - A new quantitative theory

A new theory for determining the quantized electron conductance through multi-atom nanowires is presented by introducing a transmission-probability function from the Fermi-Dirac distribution. By virtue of this formulation and by using an approximate relationship between the conductance and the electronic density of states, an expression for the number of off-resonant conduction states is derived. In addition, some aspects related to atom-lead coupling are discussed. Our results agree well with experimental data.