We present the preparation and measurements of nanowires of single-crystal NbSe2. These nanowires were prepared on ultrathin (≲10 nm) flakes of NbSe2 mechanically exfoliated from a bulk single crystal using a process combining electron beam lithography and reactive plasma etching. The electrical contacts to the nanowires were prepared using Ti/Au. Our technique, which overcomes several limitations of methods developed previously for fabricating superconducting nanowires, also allows for the preparation of complex superconducting nanostructures with a desired geometry. Current-voltage characteristics of individual superconducting single-crystal nanowires with widths down to 30~nm and cross-sectional areas as low as 270 nm2 were measured for the first time.
@article{arxiv.1311.1773,
title = {Single-crystal superconducting nanowires of NbSe$_2$ fabricated by reactive plasma etching},
author = {Shaun A. Mills and Neal E. Staley and Jacob J. Wisser and Chenyi Shen and Zhuan Xu and Ying Liu},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1311.1773},
year = {2014}
}