Surface contamination effects on resistance of gold nanowires

Gold nanowires were patterned with e-beam lithography and fabricated with a gold film deposited by e-beam evaporation. The resistances of these wires were measured and found to be nonlinear with respect to surface area/volume. With x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis, carbon and oxygen contaminants in the forms of C, C-O-C, and C = O were found adsorbed on the gold surface. This contamination adsorbed on the surface may lead to increased resistance of nanowires. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics.