Giving electrons a ride: nanomechanical electron shuttles

Nanomechanical shuttles transferring small groups of electrons or even individual electrons from one electrode to another offer a novel approach to the problem of controlled charge transport. Here, we report the fabrication of shuttle-junctions consisting of a 20 nm diameter gold nanoparticle embedd...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:arXiv.org 2008-10
Main Authors: Moskalenko, A V, Gordeev, S N, Koentjoro, O F, Raithby, P R, French, R W, Marken, F, Savel'ev, S E
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Charge transport
Computer simulation
Current voltage characteristics
Electrodes
Electrons
Gold
Nanoparticles
Organic chemistry
Springs (elastic)
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Summary:Nanomechanical shuttles transferring small groups of electrons or even individual electrons from one electrode to another offer a novel approach to the problem of controlled charge transport. Here, we report the fabrication of shuttle-junctions consisting of a 20 nm diameter gold nanoparticle embedded within the gap between two gold electrodes. The nanoparticle is attached to the electrodes through a monolayer of flexible organic molecules which play the role of springs so that when a sufficient voltage bias is applied, then nanoparticle starts to oscillate transferring electrons from one electrode to the other. Current-voltage characteristics for the fabricated devices have been measured and compared with the results of our computer simulations.
ISSN:2331-8422
DOI:10.48550/arxiv.0810.2430