Published online by Cambridge University Press: 26 February 2011
Nickel monosilicide (NiSi) nanowires (NWs) were fabricated by metal-induced growth at 575 °C. The solid-state reaction of Ni and Si provides linear grown NWs. The parallel grown NW forms a nanobridge (NB) across a trench, patterned with a simple optical lithography and metal lift-off method. The Ni pads gave a good Ohmic contact without affecting the I-V transport characteristics through a NB. The metallic NB, 2.73 µm in length and 50 nm in diameter, gave a low resistance of 148 . The self-assembled nanobridge can be applied to form nanocontacts at relatively low temperatures. The MIG NB is a promising 1 dimensional nanoscale building block to satisfy the need of ‘self and direct’ assembled ‘bottom-up’ fabrication concepts.