In silico programming the atomic-scale metal gap junctions over wafer-scale substrates

The ability of site-specific programming few atoms-spaced metal gap junctions on wafer enables the volume production of future atomic-scaled high-performance devices. Towards this projected milestone, bottom-up self-assembly of solution-synthesized nanoparticles exhibits unique capabilities in atomic-smooth interface and mesoscale programmable junction geometries, suggesting an alternative approach to conventional top-down lithography. Here, we report an effective strategy, i.e. deterministic assembly of nanoparticle arrays (DANA), to program the assembly of billion oriented nanoparticles on 2-inch wafer. Different from previous bottom-up approaches, DANA defines the geometries of diverse designer atomic-scale gap junctions and their positionongs without using directional molecular linkers.DANA is generalizable to wide material selections and complex asymmetric patterns. Assembled gap junctions exhibit average spacing down to sub-10 atoms, smaller than the 12-nm gap spacing in the projected 2 nm technology node. The atomic-spacing gap junctions facilitate efficient charge transport different from direct tunneling, with performance superior to lithography-defined or thin film-assembled analogs. Hence, DANA bridges the atomic-smooth solution synthesis/assembly into wafer-scale high-performance devices, and complements to the resolution limit of conventional lithography.