Using a scanning tunnelling microscope or mechanically controllable break junction it has been shown that it is possible to control the formation of a wire made of single gold atoms. In these experiments an interatomic distance between atoms in the chain of $\sim 3.6\hspace{0.5em}\mathrm{\AA }$ was reported which is not consistent with recent theoretical calculations. Here, using precise calibration procedures for both techniques, we measure the length of the atomic chains. Based on the distance between the peaks observed in the chain length histogram we find the mean value of the interatomic distance before chain rupture to be $2.5\pm 0.2\hspace{0.5em}\mathrm{\AA }.$ This value agrees with the theoretical calculations for the bond length. The discrepancy with the previous experimental measurements was due to the presence of He gas, that was used to promote the thermal contact, and which affects the value of the work function that is commonly used to calibrate distances in scanning tunnelling microscopy and mechanically controllable break junctions at low temperatures.

• Received 20 February 2002

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.66.085418