Features of tunneling current-voltage characteristics in dielectric films with Ni, Fe and Co nanoparticles, investigated by conductive AFM and within the framework of the theory of 1D-dissipative tunneling

In this work, we have experimentally investigated the features of tunneling current-voltage (I–V) curves in the case of 1D-dissipative tunneling in the limit of weak dissipation for various both synthesized (and in the process of synthesis) metallic nanoparticles (NPs) (Ni, Co, Fe) in a combined atomic force microscope/scanning tunneling microscope (AFM/STM) system in an external electric field. It is shown that for individual tunneling I–V curves, a single peak is observed at one of the polarities. In the process of synthesizing metallic nanoparticles with a change in polarity, instead of nanoclusters, it is possible to synthesize toroidal structures (shown by the example of “growing” Ni-NPs). The investigated effects of 1D-dissipative tunneling made it possible to develop the author's method of controlled growth of quantum dots in a combined AFM/STM system. A qualitative agreement was obtained between the experimental and theoretical results, which allows us to assume the possibility of experimental observation of the macroscopic dissipative tunneling effects and thereby confirm the hypothesis expressed in the pioneering works of A. J. Leggett, A. I. Larkin, Yu. N. Ovchinnikov and other authors.