Fabrication and AFM characterization of a co-planar tunnel junction with a less than 30 nm interelectrode gap

Abstract
The results of a nanolithography process for making co-planar tunnel junctions with a gap length lower than 30 nm and electrode width in the 100 nm range are presented. These electrodes are buried in the SiO2 substrate which makes the SiO2 gap surface accessible for atomic force microscopy characterization.