Non-linear electronic transport in Pt nanowires deposited by focused ion beam

Electrical transport and structural properties of platinum nanowires, deposited using the focused ion beam method, have been investigated. Energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy reveals metal-rich grains (atomic composition 31% Pt and 50% Ga) in a largely non-metallic matrix of C, O and Si. Resistivity measurements (15–300 K) reveal a negative temperature coefficient with the room-temperature resistivity 80–300 times higher than that of bulk Pt. Temperature-dependent current–voltage characteristics exhibit non-linear behaviour in the entire range investigated. The conductance spectra indicate increasing non-linearity with decreasing temperature, reaching 4% at 15 K. The observed electrical behaviour is explained in terms of a model for inter-grain tunnelling in disordered media, a mechanism that is consistent with the strongly disordered nature of the nanowires observed in the structure and composition analysis.