title: Parallel fabrication of polymer-protected nanogaps.
abstract: A method to create an array of sub-5 nm nanogaps with self-aligned holes in a protective polymer overlayer is presented. The parallel formation of the nanogaps, intended for electrical sensing of biomolecules in an aqueous environment, is achieved by electromigration using a simple voltage ramp across parallel-connected electrode patterns with individual constrictions. It was observed that the nanogap always formed on the cathode side of a bowtie electrode, with corresponding hillocks on the anode side, with the distance of the gap/hillock formation from the constriction depending on the ambient temperature. This technique provides a practical means to fabricate a series of polymer-protected nanogaps with considerably higher efficiency than afforded by the normally slow serial process of electromigration.
authors.affiliation: Advanced Materials for Micro- and Nano-Systems Program, Singapore-MIT Alliance, Singapore.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: C V
authors.initials: CV
authors.lastname: Thompson
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Stellacci
authors.forename: J T L
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Thong