Electron Transport through Gold Nanocrystal Arrays
Abstract
We have investigated the electron transport properties of two-dimensional arrays of octanethiol- and octadecanethiol-coated gold nanocrystals using current-voltage measurements at temperatures between 4.2 K and 300 K. The gold nanoparticles have an average diameter of 2.3 nm. The interparticle spacing of the octanethiol-coated nanoparticles is 2.5 nm, while that of the octadecanethiol-coated ones is 2.7 nm, as determined from TEM analysis. The arrays were deposited using the Langmuir-Blodgett technique on SiO2 covered silicon wafers with electron-beam patterned gold electrodes and gap sizes as low as 7 nm (resulting in small-sized arrays, only a few rows thick). Our data demonstrates a well-defined Coulomb blockade at low temperatures, with a threshold voltage that depends linearly on the temperature, as well as a thermally-activated low-voltage conductance. Differences between the characteristic energies and the conductance of the two types of gold arrays will be discussed. This research was supported in part by NSF-MRSEC.
- Publication:
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APS March Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- March 2004
- Bibcode:
- 2004APS..MAR.R1292C