IBM Research-Zurich, Säumerstrasse 4, 8803 Rüschlikon, Switzerland.
Nanoscale. 2013 Sep 21;5(18):8680-8. doi: 10.1039/c3nr02358c.
We demonstrate a method to assemble gold nanorods highly deterministically into a chain formation by means of directed capillary assembly. This way we achieved straight chains consisting of end-to-end aligned gold nanorods assembled in one specific direction with well-controlled gaps of ∼6 nm between the individual constituents. We determined the conditions for optimum quality and yield of nanorod chain assembly by investigating the influence of template dimensions and assembly temperature. In addition, we transferred the gold nanorod chains from the assembly template onto a Si/SiO2 target substrate, thus establishing a platform for a variety of nanoscale electronic and optical applications ranging from molecular electronics to optical and plasmonic devices. As a first example, electrical measurements are performed on contacted gold nanorod chains before and after their immersion in a solution of thiol end-capped oligophenylenevinylene molecules showing an increase in the conductance by three orders of magnitude, indicating molecular-mediated transport.
我们展示了一种通过定向毛细组装将金纳米棒高度确定性地组装成链状结构的方法。通过这种方式，我们实现了由沿特定方向首尾相连排列的金纳米棒组成的直链，各个组成部分之间的间隔为 6nm 左右，且具有良好的可控性。通过研究模板尺寸和组装温度的影响，我们确定了纳米棒链组装的最佳质量和产率的条件。此外，我们将金纳米棒链从组装模板转移到 Si/SiO2 目标衬底上，从而为从分子电子学到光学和等离子体器件等各种纳米级电子和光学应用建立了一个平台。作为第一个例子，在将接触的金纳米棒链浸入巯基封端的寡聚苯乙烯基乙炔分子的溶液前后进行了电测量，结果表明电导增加了三个数量级，表明存在分子介导的输运。
