Experimental determination of conduction channels in atomic-scale conductors based on shot noise measurements

We demonstrate a general procedure for determining the conduction channels of quantum conductors from shot noise measurements. This numerical approach allows multichannel analysis which was previously limited to superconductors. Channel analysis of Ag and Au atomic contacts reveals a remarkable behavior in which the channels fully open one by one with increasing conductance. These results allow us to unambiguously distinguish between free-electron and tight-binding descriptions for the conductance of monovalent contacts. Furthermore, the channel resolution uncovers the presence of tunneling channels in parallel to the conductance through the main contact and provides a means for distinguishing between the contact conductance and tunneling contributions. Finally, unique channel distributions were found for Al and Pt contacts reflecting their distinct valence orbital structures.