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A silicon structure for electrical characterisation of nanoscale elements

A silicon structure for electrical characterisation of nanoscale elements
A silicon structure for electrical characterisation of nanoscale elements
The problem of mass manufacturing electrode structures suitable for contacting nanoscale elements lies primarily in the difficulty of fabricating a nanometre-scale gap between two electrodes in a well controlled, highly parallel manner. In ULSI circuit production, the gate and substrate in MOSFETs are routinely fabricated with a precise vertical spacing of 3 nm between them.
In this work, we have investigated a number of highly parallel methods for the generation of nanogaps, including reconfiguration of the ubiquitous MOS device structure. The silicon dioxide layer that provides vertical separation and electrical insulation between two regions of silicon (the crystalline substrate and the poly-crystalline gate) gives a leakage current of 1 nA µm-2 at 1 V for an oxide thickness of 2 nm. This will enable objects the size of single molecules that are held across this layer to be detected electrically if they provide currents on the nanoampere scale, assuming a parasitic area for leakage between gate and substrate of order 1 μm2.
In the future this kind of device has the potential to provide a bolt-on technology for the fabrication of ULSI circuits in which conventional CMOS devices are directly hybridised with functional nanoscale elements.
Sazio, P.J.A.
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Berg, J.
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See, P.
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Ford, C.J.B.
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Lundgren, P.
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Greenham, N.C.
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Ginger, D.S.
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Bengtsson, S.
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Chin, S.N.
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Sazio, P.J.A.
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Berg, J.
2ba2b1b4-08a3-455b-b2b0-3c6f2d425f44
See, P.
b30b2024-8c3f-47ea-876f-f318649d9fd6
Ford, C.J.B.
fd7dd142-efad-49be-b61d-caf1663d0fa4
Lundgren, P.
319aa625-e346-4001-8b3e-19e0da837180
Greenham, N.C.
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Ginger, D.S.
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Bengtsson, S.
a25481c2-a1a3-4ccd-87f2-edad0b96f423
Chin, S.N.
5bf3450b-ed6b-4530-9359-7b98d7659642

Sazio, P.J.A., Berg, J., See, P., Ford, C.J.B., Lundgren, P., Greenham, N.C., Ginger, D.S., Bengtsson, S. and Chin, S.N. (2001) A silicon structure for electrical characterisation of nanoscale elements. 2001 MRS Spring Meeting, San Francisco, USA. 16 - 20 Apr 2001. 6 pp .

Record type: Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)

Abstract

The problem of mass manufacturing electrode structures suitable for contacting nanoscale elements lies primarily in the difficulty of fabricating a nanometre-scale gap between two electrodes in a well controlled, highly parallel manner. In ULSI circuit production, the gate and substrate in MOSFETs are routinely fabricated with a precise vertical spacing of 3 nm between them.
In this work, we have investigated a number of highly parallel methods for the generation of nanogaps, including reconfiguration of the ubiquitous MOS device structure. The silicon dioxide layer that provides vertical separation and electrical insulation between two regions of silicon (the crystalline substrate and the poly-crystalline gate) gives a leakage current of 1 nA µm-2 at 1 V for an oxide thickness of 2 nm. This will enable objects the size of single molecules that are held across this layer to be detected electrically if they provide currents on the nanoampere scale, assuming a parasitic area for leakage between gate and substrate of order 1 μm2.
In the future this kind of device has the potential to provide a bolt-on technology for the fabrication of ULSI circuits in which conventional CMOS devices are directly hybridised with functional nanoscale elements.

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More information

e-pub ahead of print date: April 2001
Additional Information: Symposium B: Molecular and Biomolecular Electronics. Paper: B2.3
Venue - Dates: 2001 MRS Spring Meeting, San Francisco, USA, 2001-04-16 - 2001-04-20

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 38969
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/38969
PURE UUID: b600e8a0-6a47-43d0-a0e7-cf0037c595cf
ORCID for P.J.A. Sazio: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-6506-9266

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 20 Jun 2006
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 03:26

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Contributors

Author: P.J.A. Sazio ORCID iD
Author: J. Berg
Author: P. See
Author: C.J.B. Ford
Author: P. Lundgren
Author: N.C. Greenham
Author: D.S. Ginger
Author: S. Bengtsson
Author: S.N. Chin

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