Nanocapacitive circuit elements.

"Natural" lithography was used to prepare arrays of nanoscale capacitors on silicon. The capacitance was verified by a novel technique based on the interaction of a charged substrate with the electron beam of a scanning electron microscope. The "nanocapacitors" possessed a capacitance of approximately 1 x 10(-16) F and were observed to hold charge for over an hour. Our results indicate that fabricating nanostructures using natural lithography may provide a viable alternative for future nanoelectronic devices.