Transmission channels through Na and Al atom wire

First-principles calculations of the transmission channels of single-atom-w idth Na and Al atom wires bridged between metallic jellium electrodes are p resented. For the Na wire, a single channel contributes to the conduction w ith an almost full quantization value, 2e(2)/h. The conductance is insensit ive to the geometrical change since the Fermi energy is located above the o nset energy of the channel showing the quantization of conductance. On the other hand, for the Al wire. three channels contribute to the conduction. T he Fermi energy is placed just at the onset of the second and the third cha nnels, and the channel transmissions are very sensitive to the geometrical changes of the wires. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.