Printing electrode for top-contact molecular junction

Abstract

We have developed a fabrication method of electrodes for molecular electronics based on nanotransfer printing lithography using a release agent layer and without any surface modification. A gold layer deposited on a release agent layer coating a mold can transfer to the nonmodified surfaces of SiO2, sapphire, or organic layer. The printed electrode has a resistivity of 4×10−6Ωcm which is close to the value of 2.1×10−6Ωcm for bulk gold. The application of this process to top-contact type molecular junctions is demonstrated using carbon nanotubes and the electric potential distribution of the junctions is observed by Kelvin force microscopy.