The understanding of the conductive properties of extremely small metallic structures is of high importance for the potential use in nanoelectronic devices and their interconnects. In this contribution we first show results of ultrathin epitaxially grown Pb films on Si(111). The magnetoconductive properties of ultrathin Pb films deposited on Si(111) are measured and compared with density-functional electronic band-structure calculations on two-dimensional, free-standing,(111) oriented Pb slabs. We show that the oscillations in sign of the Hall constant observed as a function of film thickness can be explained directly from the thickness dependent variations of the electronic bandstructure at the Fermi energy. Si(557) surfaces form regular arrays of triple steps between the terraces that are extended without defects over several hundred nm. Adsorption of several monolayers of Pb with subsequent annealing to temperatures above the melting point of bulk Pb leads to the selforganized decoration of the terraces by Pb nanowires with a typical width of 3 nm. Macroscopic conductivity measurements have revealed a remarkably anisotropic (up to a factor of 100) conductance parallel and perpendicular to the step direction, below 80 K, where a sharp phase transition towards strong anisotropy occurs. Finally, we present an alternative method to produce and study ultrathin epitaxial metallic and crystalline nanowires with dimensions down to 10 nm on an insulating support. We combine electron beam lithography in ultra-high vacuum with epitaxy of silver on silicon (001) and (111) surfaces using a SEM-STM system (JEOL) for confocal and simultaneous operation of both microscopes at variable sample temperatures in the range 80-900 K. First measurements of electrical conductance of single crystalline Ag and Pb nanowires using the TiSi contact pads and the STM tip as probes will be presented.

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