Probing intrinsic transport properties of single metal nanowires: Direct-write contact formation using a focused ion beam

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Abstract
The transport characteristics of 70 - nm -diameter platinumnanowires (NWs), fabricated using a pore-templated electrodeposition process and individually contacted using a focused ion beam(FIB) method, are reported. This approach yields nanowire devices with low contact resistances ( ∼ 400 Ω ) and linear current–voltage characteristics for current densities up to 65 kA ∕ cm 2 . The intrinsic nanowireresistivity ( 33 ± 5 μ Ω cm ) indicates significant contributions from surface- and grain-boundary scattering mechanisms. Fits to the temperature dependence of the intrinsic NW resistance confirm that grain-boundary scattering dominates surface scattering (by more than a factor of 2) at all temperatures. Our results demonstrate that FIB presents a rapid and flexible method for the formation of low-resistance ohmic contacts to individual metalnanowires, allowing intrinsic nanowire transport properties to be probed.