Nanoelectrodes were fabricated combining photolithography, electron beam lithography and focused ion beam milling allowing for large scale integration and nanoengineering of the electrode properties. The structure determination by transmission and scanning electron microscopy showed a highly reproducible gap width. The atomic scale electrode structure was characterized using scanning and transmission electron microscopy. The nanogap resistances were found to be the highest hitherto reported for nanogaps, namely in the 300–1300 TΩ range. Gold nanoparticles were trapped by ac dielectrophoresis, and the electrodes were shown to be stable enough to endure empty gap voltages as high as 5 V as well as currents high enough to induce fusing of trapped nanoparticles.
There are several methods to produce solar absorbers, and one cheap alternative is painted absorbers, preferably painted with a spectrally selective paint. The optical properties of Thickness Sensitive Spectrally Selective (TSSS) paints are, however, limited by the thickness of the paint layer. In this study it is shown that the solar absorptance of two commercial TSSS paints can be increased between 0.01 and 0.02 units with an antireflection treatment using a silicon dioxide layer deposited from silica-gel. It was found that the thermal emittance (100 °C) did not change significantly after the treatment.