In situ electrochemical fabrication of natural contacts on single nanowires

We report a template-based in situ electrochemical method for fabricating natural electric contacts on single nanowires using a pair of cross-patterned electrodes. Such electric contacts are highly stable upon thermal cycling between room temperature and milli-Kelvin temperatures. Direct imaging of the single-nanowire contacts using scanning electron microscopy is also demonstrated. (C) 2004 American Institute of Physics.