By slowing t
he rate of atomic addition to singly twinned seeds, we
have grown silver nanobeams wit
h lengt
hs of 3-30
![](/images/entities/mgr.gif)
m, widt
hs rangingfrom 17 to 70 nm, and a widt
h to t
hickness ratio of 1.4. T
he well-defined dimensions, smoot
h surface, and crystallinity of nanobeams maket
hem promising candidates for studying t
he effects of size on electron transport. Wit
h a simple met
hod t
hat allows rapid c
haracterization ofsingle nanobeams, we find t
hat even t
he t
hinnest nanobeams largely retain t
he low resistivity of bulk silver. Nanobeams can support remarkably
hig
h current densities of up to 2.6 × 10
8 A cm
-2 before t
he conduction pat
h is broken by t
he formation of a nanogap.