Controlled mechanical AFM machining of two-dimensional electron systems: fabrication of a single-electron transistor

Abstract By mechanical scratching the surface of a GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructure with an atomic force microscope an energetic barrier for the two-dimensional electron gas is formed. The barrier formation is in-situ controlled by measuring the room-temperature resistance across the barrier. Barrier heights can be tuned from some mV up to more than 100 mV as determined by measurement of the thermally activated current. Low-resistance barriers show typical tunneling behaviour at low temperatures whereas high-resistance lines show G Ω resistances in a bias range up to some 10 V allowing their use as in-plane gates. Transport measurements of a side gated single-electron transistor fabricated this way are presented.

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