Noise spectroscopy of tunable nanoconstrictions: molecule-free and molecule-modified.

Devices with metallic nanoconstrictions functionalized by organic molecules are promising candidates for the role of functional devices in molecular electronics. However, at the moment little is known about transport and noise properties of nanoconstriction devices of this kind. In this paper, transport properties of bare gold and molecule-containing tunable cross-section nanoconstrictions are studied using low-frequency noise spectroscopy.

Shaping the Atomic-Scale Geometries of Electrodes to Control Optical and Electrical Performance of Molecular Devices.

A straightforward method to generate both atomic-scale sharp and atomic-scale planar electrodes is reported. The atomic-scale sharp electrodes are generated by precisely stretching a suspended nanowire, while the atomic-scale planar electrodes are obtained via mechanically controllable interelectrodes compression followed by a thermal-driven atom migration process. Notably, the gap size between the electrodes can be precisely controlled at subangstrom accuracy with this method.