METHOD OF PRODUCING A METAL MICRO-/NANOELECTRODE AND MICRO-/NANOELECTRODE WITH SINGLE-CRYSTALLINE METAL DEPOSIT

[0001] There is described method of producing a metal micro-/nanoelectrode (EL), the method comprising: (a) providing a glass pipette template (PT), the glass pipette template (PT) exhibiting a tapered portion (TP) terminating with a tip of micrometric or nanometric scale, the tapered portion (TP) being adapted to contain a solution; (b) filling at least part of the tapered portion (TP) of the glass pipette template (PT) with a chemical growth solution (GS) containing a metal precursor suitable for selective growth of a metal deposit (MD) inside the tapered portion (TP); (c) processing the taper-filled glass pipette templates (PT) in bulk media (BM) containing a reacting agent to drive nucleation and growth of a metal deposit (MD) from the chemical growth solution (GS) in the tapered portion (TP) of the glass pipette template (PT); and (d) physically connecting a micro-wire (MW) to the metal deposit (MD) formed inside the tapered portion (TP) of the glass pipette template (PT). [0002] The method especially allows the formation of thin-wall micro-/nanoelectrodes (EL) with single-crystalline metal deposits (MD), which forms another aspect of the invention.