Fig. 5: Conductivity under deep compression.

a Schematic illustration of nano-indentation system, insets showing typical SEM images of a polymer-plated gold microsphere (i) and a pure gold microsphere (ii) prepared by our laser irradiation strategy for testing. b Force-time curve depicting the displacement program loaded on the indenter for compression. Schematic illustrations and conductivity responses of plated gold microsphere (c) and pure gold microsphere (d) under deep compression program of (b). Insets in (c, d): corresponding SEM images of a typical plated gold microsphere and a pure gold microsphere after deep compression. Background shading indicates electric “on” (blue) and “off” (purple) states. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.