Electrical characterization of suspended gold nanowire bridges

In this paper, a very simple top-down fabrication method, which is compatible with standard silicon (Si) fabrication processes, is proposed to fabricate new suspended gold nanowire bridges with flexible designs. The electrical characteristics of the nanowire bridges which include the V–I curve, thermoresistive and impedance spectra change before and after nanowire bridges release and resistivity change with different design parameters are measured. The suspended nanowire bridge structures show the reduction of interference from the substrate and a large design flexibility to fit varying application desires. Furthermore, the nanowire bridge has shown a high potential for biomolecular detection by the mechanical, electrical or optical sensing mechanism through the formation of functionalized self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) on the bridge structure. (Some figures in this article are in colour only in the electronic version)