Improved contact characteristics in a single Tin-Oxide nanowire device by a selective reactive ion etching (RIE) process

Although many structures based on Snû2 nanowires have been demonstrated, there is a limitation towards practical application due to the unwanted contact potential between the metal electrode and the SnO₂ nanowire. This is mostly due to the presence of the native oxide layer that acts as an insulator between the metal contact and the nanowire. In this study the contact properties between Ti/Au contacts and a single SnO₂ nanowire was compared to the electrical properties of a contact without the oxide layer. RIE(Reactive Ion Etching) is used to selectively remove the oxide layer from the contact area. The SnO₂ nanowires were synthesized by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and dispersed on a Si/Si₃N₄ substrate. The Ti/Au (20nm/100nm) electrodes were formed by e-beam lithography, e-beam evaporation and a lift-off process.