Patent ID: 7857959

Claim:
A method of forming a nanowire containing a nanogap comprising: providing a nanoporous membrane of a nonmetallic material having a plurality of pores; partially filling the plurality of pores of the nanoporous membrane with a first metal; partially filling the plurality of pores of the nanoporous membrane with a second metal to form an inner second metal section; partially filling the plurality of pores of the nanoporous membrane with a third metal to form a polymetallic configuration of the plurality of metals within the plurality of pores of the nanoporous membrane; removing the nanoporous membrane to provide a plurality of nanowires each having a length from about 1 μm to about 1000 μm and having a polymetallic configuration including the inner second metal section; and removing the inner second metal section to form a nanogap in the plurality of nanowires.