Resistance of Ni nanowires fabricated by STM-CVD

Xiang-Dong Wang; Scott E. Rubel; Ulrich Purbach; Alejandro L. de Lozanne

doi:10.1117/12.271214

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15 April 1997 Resistance of Ni nanowires fabricated by STM-CVD

Xiang-Dong Wang, Scott E. Rubel, Ulrich Purbach, Alejandro L. de Lozanne

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Proceedings Volume 3009, Micromachining and Imaging; (1997) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.271214
Event: Photonics West '97, 1997, San Jose, CA, United States

Abstract

We have developed a technique of fabricating nanoscale metallic wires by using STM-assisted local CVD. By using this technique, nickel wires as narrow as 18 nm and up to 6 micrometers long can be fabricated routinely. However, due to difficulties in making contact with the leads the electrical properties of these nanowires have rarely been successfully characterized. Here we report the successful fabrication and measurement of nickel nanowires with a four-probe configuration using a H-terminated Si (111) surface for the substrate. The samples are prepatterned with metal contact pads, which can be severely damaged by the tip during writing due to the high electric field at the tip-sample junction. After considerably experimentation we now use tungsten silicide contact pads with a silicon-rich stoichiometry; these pads work quite successfully. The wires we measured are typically tens of nanometers wide, 10 - 20 nm high, and a few microns long. We measured their resistance as a function of temperature from 4.2 to approximately 225 K. At higher temperatures the resistance drops linearly with decreasing temperature, indicating metallic behavior. At lower temperatures (<EQ 40 K) however the smaller wires' resistance increases, while that of the larger ones becomes constant. We believe the resistance rise of the smaller wires may indicate the onset of weak localization. We have also fabricated wires using e- beam lithography with a contamination resist followed by ion milling, and compare our data for the two techniques. Our results show a promising way of fabricating nanoscale electronic devices.

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Xiang-Dong Wang, Scott E. Rubel, Ulrich Purbach, and Alejandro L. de Lozanne "Resistance of Ni nanowires fabricated by STM-CVD", Proc. SPIE 3009, Micromachining and Imaging, (15 April 1997); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.271214

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