Microcantilever equipped with nanowire template electrodes for multiprobe measurement on fragile nanostructures

Abstract

We present a technique for fabricating nanoelectrode extensions to microcantilevers for multiprobe electrical characterization. For electrical measurements of fragile samples, such as thin films and nanostructures, it is advantageous to combine a small contact force with a small contact area, which can be done by reducing the dimensions of the electrodes to nanoscale dimensions. Here we report a fabrication method of a nanoscale four-point probe utilizing silicon nanowires as templates for metal electrodes. Using nanomanipulation, we attach 200-300 nm wide silicon nanowires to microfabricated cantilevers. By subsequently covering these nanowires with a metallic coating, they are made conducting and at the same time fixed to the cantilevers. These silicon nanowire four-point probes were tested on 7 and 35 nm thick Au films as well as poorly adhering 16 nm thin Au nanowires deposited on a silicon surface through a nanofabricated shadow mask. It was found that the nanowire extensions dramatically reduce the damage of the studied samples, while nearly reproducing the resistivity measurements of the unmodified, but more destructive micro four-point probes.

Near‐Bulk Conductivity of Gold Nanowires as Nanoscale Interconnects and the Role of Atomically Smooth Interface

“…[5][6][7][8][9][10][11] The reason for the drastic increase in resistivity for NWs is that charge carriers experience grain boundaries reflections and surface scattering. The smaller the diameter of the conductor, the greater this effect becomes.…”

Electric Birefringence of Gold Nanorods: Effect of Surfactant Coating

“…The values of the conductivities of both the particle core and the layer determine the absolute value of the birefringence at low frequencies. The intrinsic conductivity of the gold cores, σ i , is taken from published values for gold nano-objects, which are in the range (3.5–440) × 10 5 S/m, depending on the particle geometry and synthesis route. − Only the values on the low side of this range, below 10 × 10 5 S/m, fit our experimental data. This can be understood, since our particles are much shorter than those used in determining the range referred to above, and conductivity has been shown to be lower for shorter wires .…”

Robotic nanoassembly: current developments and challenges

“…There are two main methods to pick and place nano objects. Another approach was made by Bøggild et al who used an electrostatically actuated gripper as shown in Figure 6 ( Wang et al, 1996;Bøggild et al, 2001a;Bøggild et al, 2001b;Petersen et al, 2002;Lin et al, 2004). Compared with gravitational forces, adhesive forces are much stronger in the nano world.…”

“…Compared with gravitational forces, adhesive forces are much stronger in the nano world. With the scanning microscopic fourpoint conductivity probes, conducting materials could also be studied (Petersen et al, 2002;Lin et al, 2004). In this case, the problem is not gripping, but releasing the object (the 'sticky' problem).…”