Highly conducting patterned Pd nanowires by direct-write electron beam lithography

Palladium hexadecylthiolate is shown to serve as a negative-tone direct-write electron resist to produce nanopatterns down to 30 nm. The written patterns do not deviate much from the precursor in composition, while a post-treatment at 230 degrees C in air produced metallic Pd nanowires with residual carbon less than 10% and resistivity close to the bulk value, a desirable property of interconnects in nanocircuitry. The as-written patterns contain small nanocrystals (<5 nm) in a hydrocarbon matrix, which upon annealing aggregate to form well-connected networks of larger nanocrystals (5-15 nm), thus giving rise to metallic conductivity.