In-situ photoconductivity measurement of imidazole in optical fiber break-junctions

We develop a method based on the mechanically controllable break junction technique to investigate the electron transport properties of single molecular junctions upon fiber waveguided light. In our strategy, a...

A flexible platform for controlled optical and electrical effects in tailored plasmonic break junctions

Mechanically controllable break junctions are one suitable approach to generate atomic point contacts and ultrasmall and controllable gaps between two metal contacts. For constant bias voltages, the tunneling current can be used as a ruler to evaluate the distance between the contacts in the sub-1-nm regime and with sub-Å precision. This ruler can be used to measure the distance between two plasmonic nanostructures located at the designated breaking point of the break junction. In this work, an experimental setup together with suitable nanofabricated break junctions is developed that enables us to perform simultaneous gap-dependent optical and electrical characterization of coupled plasmonic particles, more specifically bowtie antennas in the highly interesting gap range from few nanometers down to zero gap width. The plasmonic break junction experiment is performed in the focus of a confocal microscope. Confocal scanning images and current measurements are simultaneously recorded and exhibit an increased current when the laser is focused in the proximity of the junction. This setup offers a flexible platform for further correlated optoelectronic investigations of coupled antennas or junctions bridged by nanomaterials.

A non-oxidizing fabrication method for lithographic break junctions of sensitive metals

An oxygen-free lithographical fabrication method enables room temperature atomic switches terminated by oxygen sensitive metals.