Proximity effect in ion-beam-induced deposition of nanopillars

Ion-beam-induced deposition (IBID) is a powerful technique for prototyping three-dimensional nanostructures. To study its capability for this purpose, the authors investigate the proximity effect in IBID of nanopillars. In particular, the changes in shape and dimension of pillars are studied when a second pillar is grown near an existing pillar....

Room-temperature stability of Pt nanogaps formed by self-breaking

We present a method to make Pt nanometer-spaced electrodes that are free of metallic particles and stable at ambient conditions. The nanogaps are fabricated using feedback-controlled electromigration to form few-atom contacts. When performing this procedure at elevated temperatures (>420?K), the Pt contacts undergo self-breaking so that...