AVS 53rd International Symposium
    Nanometer-scale Science and Technology Friday Sessions
       Session NS-FrM

Paper NS-FrM9
Electrical Characterization of Nanowires with the LEEPS Microscope

Friday, November 17, 2006, 10:40 am, Room 2016

Session: Nanowires
Presenter: D.H. Weber, University of Bielefeld, Germany
Authors: D.H. Weber, University of Bielefeld, Germany
A. Beyer, University of Bielefeld, Germany
A. Gölzhäuser, University of Bielefeld, Germany
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We introduce the LEEPS microscope as a tool for the electrical characterization of nanowires. We have contacted single nanowires in the LEEPS electrically and have measured the conductivity. In addition the LEEPS image itself represents the electrical properties. The LEEPS (Low Energy Electron Point Source) microscope is a transmission electron microscope with electron energies from 20 eV to 200 eV. These electrons are emitted by a field emission tip with a radius in the atomic range. Because the electrons have a high spatial coherence the resulting detector image is an interference pattern which includes structural as well as electrical and magnetic information of the object. The LEEPS image includes features which are very typical for either conductive or nonconductive nanowires. The interference pattern of conductive nanowires appears much brighter referring to the image background as the interference pattern of a nonconductive nanowire. With a sharp manipulation tip as a movable electrode a single nanowire can be contacted electrically and the I/U curve is measured. Contacting and measurement can be observed with the LEEPS microscope subsequently. To take the contact resistance into account, length dependent measurements have been performed. We present I/U curves of single nanowires (i.e. ZnO) as well as a comparison of LEEPS images of conductive and nonconductive wires (i.e. ZnO, Cu, Bi and Al@sub 2@O@sub 3@, polymers).