Connecting nanowires consisting of Au55 with model electrodes

We demonstrate an approach to connect nanowires consisting of ligand-stabilized Au-55 clusters with metal arrays prepared by using metal evaporation through a mask of monodispersed latex beads, The metal arrays serve as a model for micro- or nanoelectrodes, depending on the size of the beads. The silicon surfaces bearing such model electrodes were used as substrates for transferring nanowires consisting of Au-55 prepared with the Langmuir-Blodgett technique on a poly(vinylpyrrolidone) (PVP) subphase. Single connection and multi-connection are obtained by controlling the structure density on surface.