Manipulation and conductivity measurements of gold nanowires

M. Wilms, J. Conrad, K. Vasilev, M. Kreiter, G. Wegner

Research output: Contribution to journalConference articlepeer-review

41 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

A low drift nanomanipulation device operating in a scanning electron microscope was constructed. The device allowed to manipulate and to characterize the electrical properties of flexible and highly conductive gold nanowires with diameters down to 15nm. Individual nanowires could be electrically contacted either to substrate electrodes or to movable tip electrodes of the nanomanipulation device. Measuring the total resistance of a single nanowire at different lengths gave the intrinsic conductivity (σ ≈ 2.6 × 10 7 S/m) close to that of the bulk material (σ = 4.3 × 10 7 S/m). At high current densities the phenomenon of electromigration could be observed. The problem of spontaneous deposition of insulating layers on the gold objects from contaminations in the SEM chamber is addressed.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)490-494
Number of pages5
JournalApplied Surface Science
Volume238
Issue number1-4 SPEC. ISS.
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 15 Nov 2004
Externally publishedYes
EventAPHYS 2003 - Badajoz, Spain
Duration: 13 Oct 200318 Oct 2003

Keywords

  • Electrical conductivity
  • Electromigration
  • Gold nanowire
  • Nanomanipulation
  • Scanning electron microscopy

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