TY - JOUR
T1 - Insulator-protected mechanically controlled break junctions for measuring single-molecule conductance in aqueous environments
AU - Muthusubramanian, N.
AU - Galan, E.
AU - Maity, C.
AU - Eelkema, R.
AU - Grozema, F. C.
AU - Van Der Zant, H. S J
PY - 2016/7/4
Y1 - 2016/7/4
N2 - We present a method to fabricate insulated gold mechanically controlled break junctions (MCBJ) by coating the metal with a thin layer of aluminum oxide using plasma enhanced atomic layer deposition. The Al2O3 thickness deposited on the MCBJ devices was varied from 2 to 15 nm to test the suppression of leakage currents in deionized water and phosphate buffered saline. Junctions coated with a 15 nm thick oxide layer yielded atomically sharp electrodes and negligible conductance counts in the range of 1 to 10-4 G0 (1 G0 = 77 μS), where single-molecule conductances are commonly observed. The insulated devices were used to measure the conductance of an amphiphilic oligophenylene ethynylene derivative in deionized water.
AB - We present a method to fabricate insulated gold mechanically controlled break junctions (MCBJ) by coating the metal with a thin layer of aluminum oxide using plasma enhanced atomic layer deposition. The Al2O3 thickness deposited on the MCBJ devices was varied from 2 to 15 nm to test the suppression of leakage currents in deionized water and phosphate buffered saline. Junctions coated with a 15 nm thick oxide layer yielded atomically sharp electrodes and negligible conductance counts in the range of 1 to 10-4 G0 (1 G0 = 77 μS), where single-molecule conductances are commonly observed. The insulated devices were used to measure the conductance of an amphiphilic oligophenylene ethynylene derivative in deionized water.
UR - http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:4576e049-5e2b-4c82-90d4-78435fd655f1
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84977668308&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1063/1.4955273
DO - 10.1063/1.4955273
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84977668308
SN - 0003-6951
VL - 109
JO - Applied Physics Letters
JF - Applied Physics Letters
IS - 1
M1 - 013102
ER -