Heat transfer in metallic nanometre-sized gaps

Heat transfer in nanoscale gaps is of key relevance for a variety of technologies. Recent experiments have reported contradictory results shedding doubts about the fundamental mechanisms for heat exchange when bodies are separated by nanometre-sized gaps. Here, we aim at resolving this controversy by measuring the thermal conductance of gold atomic-sized contacts with a custom-designed scanning tunnelling microscope that incorporates a novel thermal probe. This technique enables the measurement of thermal and electrical conductance in different transport regimes. When the electrodes are separated by a nanometre-sized gap, we observe thermal signals whose magnitude and gap size dependence cannot be explained with standard heat transfer mechanisms. With the help of non-equilibrium molecular dynamic simulations, we elucidate that these anomalous signals are due to the thermal conduction through water menisci that form between tip and sample under customary operation conditions. Our work resolves this fundamental puzzle and suggests avenues for the investigation of heat conduction in atomic and molecular junctions.