Crack‐Defined Electronic Nanogaps

Dubois, Valentin; Niklaus, Frank; Stemme, Göran

doi:10.1002/adma.201504569

Cited by 41 publications

(57 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…However, Si 3 N 4 is an insulator, hindering its application as electrodes in devices. Dubois et al reported crack‐defined electrodes with sub‐5 nm nanogaps in a thin electrically conductive film over a large area, obtained using TiN . However, TiN is brittle, and its conductivity is much lower than that of metal, limiting its application in electronic devices.…”

Section: Fabrication Methods For Sub‐5 Nm Nanogapsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sub‐5 nm Metal Nanogaps: Physical Properties, Fabrication Methods, and Device Applications

Yang

2018

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Sub‐5 nm metal nanogaps have attracted widespread attention in physics, chemistry, material sciences, and biology due to their physical properties, including great plasmon‐enhanced effects in light–matter interactions and charge tunneling, Coulomb blockade, and the Kondo effect under an electrical stimulus. These properties especially meet the needs of many cutting‐edge devices, such as sensing, optical, molecular, and electronic devices. However, fabricating sub‐5 nm nanogaps is still challenging at the present, and scaled and reliable fabrication, improved addressability, and multifunction integration are desired for further applications in commercial devices. The aim of this work is to provide a comprehensive overview of sub‐5 nm nanogaps and to present recent advancements in metal nanogaps, including their physical properties, fabrication methods, and device applications, with the ultimate aim to further inspire scientists and engineers in their research.

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Section: Fabrication Methods For Sub‐5 Nm Nanogapsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sub‐5 nm Metal Nanogaps: Physical Properties, Fabrication Methods, and Device Applications

Yang

2018

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“…Successful fabrication of CJs requires precise control of the formation and propagation processes of the crack by utilizing well-designed stressconcentrating structures. While the realization of CJs has been demonstrated in initial experiments 2,21 , the impact of the different design parameters of CJs on the resulting cracks has not yet been thoroughly investigated. Specifically, we analyze theoretically and verify experimentally the influence of the dimensions and shape of the stress concentration structures (notches) in the electrode-bridge, the beam length of the electrode-bridge, and the anchor design of the electrode-bridge, on the formation and propagation of the crack.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A key advantage of the CJ methodology is that while the electrode-bridges are defined lithographically, the resulting crack-defined gaps are self-generated and have predictable atomic-scale dimensions that cannot be realized with conventional state-of-the-art nanofabrication technologies. CJs also display unique properties such as the possibility to realize high aspect ratios between gap-height and gap-width, and perfectly matching electrode surfaces 2 . Other works on the characterization of the mechanical properties of ductile and brittle thin films have also been reported using release of internal stress in suspended structures to generate various controlled stress loading situations [22][23][24] .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Each of these approaches suffers from severe drawbacks, including limited process control, limited dimensional accuracy, limited process scalability and risk of residual contaminants inside the nanogaps. A novel concept was proposed and recently demonstrated for fabricating crack-defined nanogap electrodes 2,20,21 , so-called crakjunctions (CJs). CJs can be fabricated on wafer-level in very large numbers and feature gap-widths that can be precisely defined in a range from below 2 to 100 nm and above.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Electrode-nanogap-electrode structures, so-called nanogap electrodes 1 or electronic nanogaps 2 , are used in nanoelectronics, nanophotonics, plasmonics, nanopore sequencing, molecular electronics, and molecular sensing. They provide a powerful test-bed for mesoscopic physics [3][4][5][6][7] .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Design and fabrication of crack-junctions

2017

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Nanogap electrodes consist of pairs of electrically conducting tips that exhibit nanoscale gaps. They are building blocks for a variety of applications in quantum electronics, nanophotonics, plasmonics, nanopore sequencing, molecular electronics, and molecular sensing. Crack-junctions (CJs) constitute a new class of nanogap electrodes that are formed by controlled fracture of suspended bridge structures fabricated in an electrically conducting thin film under residual tensile stress. Key advantages of the CJ methodology over alternative technologies are that CJs can be fabricated with wafer-scale processes, and that the width of each individual nanogap can be precisely controlled in a range from o 2 to 4100 nm. While the realization of CJs has been demonstrated in initial experiments, the impact of the different design parameters on the resulting CJs has not yet been studied. Here we investigate the influence of design parameters such as the dimensions and shape of the notches, the length of the electrode-bridge and the design of the anchors, on the formation and propagation of cracks and on the resulting features of the CJs. We verify that the design criteria yields accurate prediction of crack formation in electrode-bridges featuring a beam width of 280 nm and beam lengths ranging from 1 to 1.8 μm. We further present design as well as experimental guidelines for the fabrication of CJs and propose an approach to initiate crack formation after release etching of the suspended electrode-bridge, thereby enabling the realization of CJs with pristine electrode surfaces.

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Scalable Manufacturing of Nanogaps

et al. 2018

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The ability to manufacture a nanogap in between two electrodes has proven a powerful catalyst for scientific discoveries in nanoscience and molecular electronics. A wide range of bottom-up and top-down methodologies are now available to fabricate nanogaps that are less than 10 nm wide. However, most available techniques involve time-consuming serial processes that are not compatible with large-scale manufacturing of nanogap devices. The scalable manufacturing of sub-10 nm gaps remains a great technological challenge that currently hinders both experimental nanoscience and the prospects for commercial exploitation of nanogap devices. Here, available nanogap fabrication methodologies are reviewed and a detailed comparison of their merits is provided, with special focus on large-scale and reproducible manufacturing of nanogaps. The most promising approaches that could achieve a breakthrough in research and commercial applications are identified. Emerging scalable nanogap manufacturing methodologies will ultimately enable applications with high scientific and societal impact, including high-speed whole genome sequencing, electromechanical computing, and molecular electronics using nanogap electrodes.

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Crack‐Defined Electronic Nanogaps

Cited by 41 publications

References 38 publications

Sub‐5 nm Metal Nanogaps: Physical Properties, Fabrication Methods, and Device Applications

Sub‐5 nm Metal Nanogaps: Physical Properties, Fabrication Methods, and Device Applications

Design and fabrication of crack-junctions

Scalable Manufacturing of Nanogaps

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