Abstract
Electric conductance of the Au nanowires was investigated in 0.1 M Na2SO4 solution under electrochemical potential control using a mechanically controllable break junction setup with an electrochemical cell (EC-MCBJ). The conductance histogram exhibited a series of peaks, suggesting the existence of the stable diameter of the nanowires. Two different slopes were obtained in the plot of the stable diameter as a function of the peak index. The two slopes could be explained by the combination of the electronic and atomic shell effects. We could observe the shell structures in the conductance histogram of the Au nanowires under electrochemical potential control for the first time.
