The electrical properties of individual NiFe/Pt multilayer nanowires have been measured in situ by nanomanipulators in a scanning electron microscope. The electrical measurement of ∼50 nm diameter individual NiFe/Pt multilayer nanowires with polycrystalline microstructure shows that the nanowires have a resistivity of ∼2.2 × 10−7 Ω m (corresponding to a conductivity of ∼4.5× 106 Ω−1 m−1) and average resistance of individual NiFe-Pt interfaces of ∼0.2 Ω. The maximum failure current density of an individual NiFe/Pt nanowire was measured to be ∼9.63 × 1011 A m−2.
We report on an efficient strategy for the fabrication of an ultra-long suspended nanowire mesh suitable for nanodevice architectures on a polymer surface. First, nickel nanowires are synthesized directly on a template substrate by magnetron sputtering. Laser interference lithography followed by deep reactive ion etching is used to create the nanograted template substrate constituted of one-dimensional line pattern arrays of 240 nm in periodicity. Ordered alignment of ultra-long nanowires (∼180 nm in diameter) with high fidelity to the template pattern is observed by scanning electron microscopy. The transfer of the pre-defined parallel nanowire array from the template surface to a target polymer substrate for electrical characterization of the system is demonstrated. The electrical behaviour of the nanowire mesh, suspended between two electrodes, was found to be linear, stable, and reproducible. This result suggests that this nanofabrication process will open an efficient way to the design and construction of novel nanodevices.
Fabrication of ultrasharp tips for scanning tunneling microscopy is inherently a two-step procedure, typically involving an etch process and postetch cleaning. From the myriad of etching parameters available in literature a procedure is presented that allows quantitative optimization and the routine production of tips with 3–10 nm radius of curvature. These ideally shaped tips require final oxide removal. Utilizing a custom designed e-beam heater element, oxide removal without localized melting is realized.
A novel type of microgripper has been developed that uses combined electrochemical etching and focused ion beam milling techniques to fabricate microgripper end-effecters from a single piece of metal wire. This ensures that the two end-effecters have well-aligned faces, can be made in a relatively simple manner to a flexible/chosen design and can be made from a wide range of materials. The wire used here is tungsten which is easy to etch and allows the gripping force to be maximized. Independent electrical connections to each of the end-effecters allow them to be grounded to prevent charging in the SEM beam and give the option of applying a voltage across an object that is picked up. Actuation of the gripper is accomplished using a trimorph piezo bender actuator giving very good resolution (typically ∼170 nm V −1 ) and a maximum possible span range of over 20 μm. The gripper has been successfully demonstrated in picking up and placing individual copper microspheres and carbon nanotubes in situ in the SEM.
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