Control of Tunnel Resistance of Nanogaps by Field-Emission-Induced Electromigration

A simple method for controlling the tunnel resistance of nanogap electrodes, based on electromigration induced by field emission current, is presented. In this study, we investigated the controllability of the tunnel resistance of nanogap electrodes by only adjusting the applied current. Initial planar nanogaps of Ni, typically separated by 22–44 nm, were fabricated on SiO2/Si substrates by electron-beam lithography and lift-off process. Then, a current was passed through the nanogaps at room temperature. By increasing the current from about 1 nA to 30 µA, the resistance of the nanogaps decreased, ranging from 100 TΩ to 10 MΩ. This result implies that this technique can simplify the fabrication of planar-type tunnel junction devices.

[1]  K. Torimitsu,et al.  Fabrication of nano-gap electrodes using electroplating technique , 2003 .

[2]  The formation of nanometer-scale gaps by electrical degradation and their application to C 60 transport measurements , 2004 .

[3]  D. L. Klein,et al.  An approach to electrical studies of single nanocrystals , 1996 .

[4]  J. Shirakashi,et al.  Magnetoresistance effect of planar-type ferromagnetic tunnel junctions , 2006 .

[5]  M. Reed,et al.  Conductance of a Molecular Junction , 1997 .

[6]  Planar-type ferromagnetic tunnel junctions fabricated by SPM local oxidation , 2007 .

[7]  D. Eastman,et al.  PHOTOELECTRIC WORK FUNCTIONS OF TRANSITION, RARE-EARTH, AND NOBLE METALS. , 1970 .

[8]  D. Ralph,et al.  From ballistic transport to tunneling in electromigrated ferromagnetic breakjunctions. , 2005, Nano letters.

[9]  Paul L. McEuen,et al.  Fabrication of metallic electrodes with nanometer separation by electromigration , 1999 .

[10]  P. Slade,et al.  Electrical breakdown in atmospheric air between closely spaced (0.2 /spl mu/m-40 /spl mu/m) electrical contacts , 2001 .

[11]  Richard Martel,et al.  Simple fabrication scheme for sub-10 nm electrode gaps using electron-beam lithography , 2002 .

[12]  Larry A. Nagahara,et al.  An approach to transport measurements of electronic molecules , 2002 .

[13]  A. Bramanti,et al.  Field-Emission Breakdown and Electromigration in Insulated Planar Nanoscopic Contacts , 2006, IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices.

[14]  J. Simmons.  Generalized Formula for the Electric Tunnel Effect between Similar Electrodes Separated by a Thin Insulating Film , 1963 .