Coulomb blockade oscillations in ultrathin gate oxide silicon single-electron transistors

Ultrathin oxide-gated (thickness ∼6nm) point-contact junctions have been fabricated to explore single-electron charging effects in strongly gate-dot-coupled polycrystallinesilicon transistors. Current–voltage (I–V) measurements show periodic current oscillations near room temperature. Analysis of the energy-level spacing relates the electron charging energy to a quantum dot of size ∼8nm, and also suggests electron tunneling is via the first excited state. These low-power ∼30pW and low-cost devices can be useful for the next generation nanoelectronics.

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