The group of Prof. Dr.
Lukas Schmidt-Mende from the University of Konstanz is studying nanostructures and their applications for optoelectronics and sensors. In their recent paper, the researchers made chain-like assemblies of gold nanoparticles and looked into factors controlling the electrical properties of resulting 1D nanostructures.
The team used Imina Technologies' in-situ SEM nanoprobers to characterize electrical transport on the samples inside SEM at room temperature. The probing tips contacted pre-patterned electrodes, with golden nanoparticle chains connecting these electrodes.
Electronic coupling between nanoparticles showed a dependence on synthesis. Authors found the recipe to create nanoparticle assemblies with strong interparticle coupling, where conductivity was dominated by tunneling across the entire temperature range.
Such nanoparticle assemblies could be used to make very precise chemiresistor sensors almost unaffected by the temperature.
