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Main Authors: de Ara, T., Olivera, B., Sabater, C., Untiedt, C.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
Subjects:
Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.05866
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author de Ara, T.
Olivera, B.
Sabater, C.
Untiedt, C.
author_facet de Ara, T.
Olivera, B.
Sabater, C.
Untiedt, C.
contents Two factors contribute to the electrical capacitance between two electrodes: a classical contribution, stemming from the electric field, and a quantum contribution, governed by the Pauli exclusion principle, which increases the difficulty of adding charge to the electrodes. In metals, the high electronic Density of States (DOS) at the Fermi energy allows the quantum contribution to be neglected, and a classical description of the electrical capacitance between two metallic electrodes is normally used. Here, we study the evolution of the capacitance as two metallic electrodes (Pt or Au) are approached to the limit when quantum corrections are needed, before contact formation. At small distances, we observe that the classical increase in capacitance turns into saturation as the electrodes are approached, reaching the quantum capacitance limit. Finally, a capacitance leakage due to quantum tunneling is observed. Since the quantum capacitance depends on the electronic DOS on the surface of the electrodes, we use it to probe the DOS change induced by molecular adsorption (Toluene) on the metallic surface.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2510_05866
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Measurement of the Quantum Capacitance Between Two Metallic Electrodes
de Ara, T.
Olivera, B.
Sabater, C.
Untiedt, C.
Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
Two factors contribute to the electrical capacitance between two electrodes: a classical contribution, stemming from the electric field, and a quantum contribution, governed by the Pauli exclusion principle, which increases the difficulty of adding charge to the electrodes. In metals, the high electronic Density of States (DOS) at the Fermi energy allows the quantum contribution to be neglected, and a classical description of the electrical capacitance between two metallic electrodes is normally used. Here, we study the evolution of the capacitance as two metallic electrodes (Pt or Au) are approached to the limit when quantum corrections are needed, before contact formation. At small distances, we observe that the classical increase in capacitance turns into saturation as the electrodes are approached, reaching the quantum capacitance limit. Finally, a capacitance leakage due to quantum tunneling is observed. Since the quantum capacitance depends on the electronic DOS on the surface of the electrodes, we use it to probe the DOS change induced by molecular adsorption (Toluene) on the metallic surface.
title Measurement of the Quantum Capacitance Between Two Metallic Electrodes
topic Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.05866