Fabrication of integrated nanogap electrodes by surface-catalyzed chemical deposition

Integrated nanogap electrodes with separations of several nanometers were fabricated by a simple and highly reproducible method of surface-catalyzed chemical deposition. By this method, multifingered nanogap electrodes of a few nanometers in separation were fabricated with a good yield (over 90%). The fabrication was achieved by immersing the initial gap electrodes obtained by conventional e-beam lithography into a stock solution containing Au ions and a mild reducing agent. After the surface-catalyzed chemical deposition, a rather wide initial gap distance of 18-52 nm was decreased to a few nanometers, showing a much narrower distribution (centered at 3.3 nm).