A new method for fabrication and electrical characterization of nanosized molten metals

The electric properties represent one of the most fundamental physical properties of a material. Here, we propose a two-probe based method for the rapid electrical characterization of molten metals. By in-situ forming a liquid bridge and tuning its size, the resistivity of the molten metal is directly determined, without the generally required electrode fabrication and free from the effect of contact resistances. Most critically, the proposed method allows for detecting and studying the changing of atomic structure such as solid-liquid phase transition on the nanoscale. As an applied example, the resistivity of molten Pt and the resistivity difference between solid Pt at room temperature and molten Pt are determined as [Formula: see text] Ω m and [Formula: see text] Ω m, respectively.