Four-probe electrical-transport measurements on single indium tin oxide nanowires between 1.5 and 300 K

Single-crystalline indium tin oxide (ITO) nanowires (NWs) were grown by the standard thermal evaporation method. The as-grown NWs were typically 100-300 nm in diameter and a few mu m long. Four-probe submicron Ti/Au electrodes on individual NWs were fabricated by the electron-beam lithography technique. The resistivities of several single NWs have been measured from 300 down to 1.5 K. The results indicate that the as-grown ITO NWs are metallic, but disordered. The overall temperature behavior of resistivity can be described by the Bloch-Gruneisen law plus a low-temperature correction due to the scattering of electrons off dynamic point defects. This observation suggests the existence of numerous dynamic point defects in as-grown ITO NWs.