B1: Fabrication, Characterization, and Transport Properties of Nanoelectronic Devices

Besides nanostructuring of metallic nano-bridges, quantum structures and multi-layer systems by conventional electron-beam lithography several new routes have been pur-sued. Self-organized growth of metallic nanostructures on semiconductor surfaces has been investigated. Scanning probe techniques have been used for structuring down to the sub-10nm range, either using an AFM, or by electro-chemical metal deposition from the tip of a STM. We have developed atomic-scale electrochemical deposition of metals in order to bridge nanoscale gaps between metallic contacts and fabricated quantum point contacts down to the size of a single atom in a controlled fashion. In the ‘molecular electronics’ collaboration between physicists and chemists at the Institute for Nanotechnologie (INT) of the KIT, cluster molecules with specific properties and macromolecules like carbon nanotubes were integrated into nano-electronic circuits. This work is included and described in the report of research area C “Molecular Nanostructures”.