Single-step growth and low resistance interconnecting of gold nanowires

We present a single-step, electrochemical approach to the growth and low contact resistance interconnecting of gold nanowires with targeted points on lithographic electrodes. Electron diffraction studies indicate that these nanowires are composed of face-centred cubic crystalline gold, and that the crystal structure is invariant along the wire lengths. Four-point resistance determinations of these electrode-nanowire-electrode assemblies consistently yield resistances of <50 Omega, and the contributions from the electrode-wire contacts are of the order of 10 Omega. Atomic force microscopy was used to depict the structurally integrated nature of the electrode-wire contacts. This feature underlies the low electrode-wire contact resistances.