Fig. 2: Magnetic-field-induced structural variations in Pt atomic wires.

a, b Length histograms formed at zero applied magnetic field and at 1.5 T (Tesla) applied perpendicular to the junction’s axis, respectively, as defined in Fig. 1a. d_2-1 and d_3-2 are the inter-peak distances, which provide an indication for the average interatomic distance in the elongated wires. c Inter-peak distance as a function of perpendicular magnetic field. The overall increase in the inter-peak distance is 20.5 ± 0.6% for d_2-1 and 18.9 ± 0.4% for d_3-2. d, e Similar to (a, b), but with an applied magnetic field parallel to the junction’s axis, as defined in Fig. 1a. f Similar to c, but with a parallel magnetic field. Here, the overall reduction in the inter-peak distance as a function of parallel magnetic field is 10.5 ± 0.6% for d_2-1 and 20.5 ± 0.6% for d_3-2. g, h d₉₀, a measure of the wire length, as a function of perpendicular (g) and parallel (h) magnetic field. Perpendicular (parallel) magnetic fields promote the formation of shorter (longer) wires. Insets: most probable conductance as a function of magnetic field perpendicular and parallel to the junction axis. See Fig. S1 for more details. Overall, fundamental structural properties of the Pt atomic wire are tuned by the direction and strength of the applied magnetic field. The data at each magnetic field in (c, f, g, h) is obtained from at least 8 length histograms that were collected during different experimental sessions. Each length histogram is based on 10,000 conductance traces measured under a bias voltage of 20 mV (similar analysis for 100 mV, and 180 mV shows no bias voltage effect, see Supplementary Section 3). The error bars provide the standard deviation of the averaged data.