Fabrication of shuttle-junctions for nanomechanical transfer of electrons.
We report on the fabrication of nanomechanical devices for shuttling of electrons from one electrode to another. Each device consists of a 20 nm diameter gold nanoparticle embedded within the gap between two gold electrodes. In two different kinds of shuttle-junctions the nanoparticle is attached to the electrodes through either (i) a single layer of 1,8-octanedithiol or (ii) a multilayer of 1-octanethiol molecules. The thiol layers play the role of 'damped springs', such that when a sufficient voltage bias is applied to the junction, the nanoparticle is expected to start oscillating and thereby transferring electrons from one electrode to the other. For both kinds of shuttle-junctions we observed an abrupt increase in the transmitted current above a threshold voltage, which can be attributed to a transition from the stationary to the oscillating regime. The threshold voltage was found to be lower for single-layer shuttle-junctions.
Moskalenko
A V
AV
Department of Physics, University of Bath, Claverton Down Road, Bath BA27AS, UK. A.Moskalenko@bath.ac.uk
Gordeev
S N
SN
Koentjoro
O F
OF
Raithby
P R
PR
French
R W
RW
Marken
F
F
Savel'ev
S
S