title: Sculpting nanoelectrodes with a transmission electron beam for electrical and geometrical characterization of nanoparticles.
abstract: A method to produce metal electrodes with a gap of a few nanometers with a highly focused electron beam in a transmission electron microscope (TEM) is described. With this method the electrical and geometrical characterization of the same particle is possible. The I-V characteristics of a gold particle trapped between such electrodes showed the expected single-electron tunneling behavior, with a Coulomb gap corresponding to the geometry of the particle as observed with high-resolution TEM.
authors.affiliation: Kavli Institute of NanoScience, Delft University of Technology, 2628 CJ Delft, The Netherlands. H.W.Zandbergen@tnw.tudelft.nl
authors.forename: Henny W
authors.initials: HW
authors.lastname: Zandbergen
authors.forename: Robert J H A
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: van Duuren
authors.forename: Paul F A
authors.initials: PF
authors.lastname: Alkemade
authors.forename: Günther
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lientschnig
authors.forename: Oscar
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Vasquez
authors.forename: Cees
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Dekker
authors.forename: Frans D
authors.initials: FD
authors.lastname: Tichelaar
mesh_terms: D004553:Electric Conductivity; D004563:Electrochemistry / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D004583:Electrons; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D006046:Gold / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry*; D008422:Materials Testing / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D008839:Microelectrodes; D046529:Microscopy, Electron, Transmission / Q000379:methods*; D013499:Surface Properties
chemical_list: D006046:Gold