Electrical characterization of suspended Pt nanowires grown by EBID with water vapour assistance

Suspended nanowires (SNWs), 600nm-long, 20nm-wide and 30nm-thick, were grown by electron beam-induced deposition of metallorganic Pt, with and without water vapour assistance, and electrically characterized at room temperature. SNWs have Ohmic behaviour in the (-0.1, 0.1V) range, and show conductivity improvement and structural evolution as subsequent I-V cycles are applied; both effects being enhanced by water vapour assistance. Typical resistivities after two I-V cycles are 1-3i?10-4?m and 6-8i?10-5?m, for Pt and (Pt+water) depositions, respectively. Structural evolution consists of a progressive coalescence of the Pt nanocrystals into large (15-20nm) and separated grains, leaving wide regions essentially made of carbon material. I-V characteristics over an extended (-2, 2V) range show a non-linear behaviour outside the (-0.4, 0.4V) interval, with currents up to ~90µA at 2V, corresponding to current densities of ~1i?107A/cm2.