| While conductivity measurements of organic molecules have been reported, electrical conductivity measurement of single inorganic metallic molecules has not been accomplished yet. In this thesis, we present a procedure to fabricate Cr: Au electrodes on thermally oxidized silicon wafers with repeatable gaps of 40 nm using electron-beam lithography and thermal deposition. After the electrodes have been formed using conventional electron-beam lithography technique, electrolysis has been used to apply additional Au to the electrodes, closing the electrodes to a sub 3 nm gap. Some coupled Raman spectral measurements, along with bulk electrical conductivity measurements have been performed on the ligands of the proposed molecules listed in this thesis. A monolayer of ligands has exhibited a symmetric current-voltage curve, and the Raman lines are shifted and broadened under the influence of the applied field. |
