Charge transport in nanocrystal wires created by direct electron beam writing

Author

Jacke, S. ; Plaza, J.L. ; Wilcoxon, J.P. ; Palmer, R.E. ; Beecher, P. ; De Marzi, Gianluca ; Redmond, G. ; Quinn, A.J. ; Chen, Yuanfeng

Author_Institution

Nanoscale Phys. Res. Lab., Univ. of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK

Volume

5

Issue

5

fYear

2010

fDate

10/1/2010 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

274

Lastpage

277

Abstract

The authors report the fabrication and electrical characterisation of nanowires created via direct electron beam writing in films of passivated gold nanocrystals. Charge transport measurements yield room temperature resistances in the range 10⁵-10⁸ . Variable temperature measurements yield two distinct sets of characteristics: activated conduction (high resistance) consistent with weakly coupled metal nanocrystals separated by alkyl thiol tunnel barriers and quasi-localised behaviour (low resistance) consistent with stronger coupling between granular metallic islands in a carbonaceous matrix. The data indicate that electron beam writing is a promising method for local manipulation of inter-nanocrystal coupling in nanocrystal arrays.

Keywords

electrical conductivity; electrical resistivity; electron beam effects; gold; island structure; nanofabrication; nanowires; organic compounds; passivation; Au; activated conduction; alkyl-thiol tunnel barriers; carbonaceous matrix; charge transport; direct electron beam writing; electrical properties; granular metallic islands; nanocrystal wires; passivated gold nanocrystals; quasilocalised behaviour; room temperature resistance; temperature 293 K to 298 K; variable temperature measurement; weakly coupled metal nanocrystals;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Micro & Nano Letters, IET

Publisher

iet

ISSN

1750-0443

Type

jour

DOI

10.1049/mnl.2010.0048

Filename

5623357