Sub-10 nm device fabrication in a transmission electron microscope

We show that a high-resolution transmission electron microscope can be used to fabricate metal nanostructures and devices on insulating membranes by nanosculpting metal films. Fabricated devices include nanogaps, nanodiscs, nanorings, nanochannels, and nanowires with tailored curvatures and multi-terminal nanogap devices with nanoislands or nanoholes between the terminals. The high resolution, geometrical flexibility, and yield make this fabrication method attractive for many applications including nanoelectronics and nanofluidics.