An experimental set-up to probe the quantum transport through a single atomic$$/$$molecular junction at room temperature

Understanding the transport characteristics at atomic limit is prerequisite for futuristic nanoelectronic applications. Among various experimental procedures, mechanically controllable break junction (MCBJ) a well-adopted technique to study and control or molecular scale devices. Here, we present details of developing piezo-controlled table-top MCBJ set-up, working ambient conditions, along with necessary data acquisition analysis data. We performed conductance experiment on macroscopic gold wire, which exhibits quantised plateau upon pulling wire. Conductance peak up ~ 20G0 (G0 = 2e2 $$/$$ h where e electronic charge Planck’s constant) could be resolved room temperature. A well-known test bed molecule, 4,4′-bipyridine, was introduced between electrodes histogram two distinctive peaks, confirming formation single junction, in line previous reports. This demonstrates that our custom-designed set-up can measure quantum conditions.