Formation of nanometer-scale gaps between metallic electrodes using pulse/DC plating and photolithography

We report a new method to fabricate nanometer-scale gaps (less than 50 nm) between two Au metal electrodes. The techniques used in this work are conventional photolithography, where specifically designed photomask and lift-off methods were used, and pulse/DC electroplating. In addition, the effects of pulse plating variables were investigated with respect to DC plating. The method is simple, inexpensive, faster, and robust, and gaps between metal electrodes could be easily controlled to atomic scale dimensions.