INVESTIGATIONS OF THE COULOMB BLOCKADE EFFECT IN DOUBLE TUNNEL JUNCTIONS
Journal Title: Metrology and Measurement Systems - Year 2006, Vol 13, Issue 2
Abstract
The Coulomb Blockade effect (CBE) is observed in double tunnel junctions where a small metallic cluster is precisely located between two outer electrodes. This electrically isolated nanocluster exhibits capacitances of attofarads. Such extremely small capacitance may cause that the charging energy EC = e2/2C which an individual electron needs to be placed at the cluster may be bigger than the electron's thermal energy kBT. The Coulomb potential of the electron localized at the cluster keeps the other electrons from flowing through the tunnel junction. Tunnel current increase is possible only after a discrete increase of bias voltage, what is observed as a so called Coulomb staircase in I-V curves. In our investigations, we have created an ultra-thin oxide (barrier) layer on the Si(111) 7×7 surface via controlled oxidation process inside the UHV chamber. One of the tunnel junctions was made by deposition of Ag nanoclusters onto an oxidized Si(111) surface. The other tunnel junction was set up by STM tip and vacuum when the tip was hovering over the Ag cluster. I-V curves measured in above clusters showed a step-like shape. The steps were smeared due to thermal broadening and asymmetry in capacitances and resistances of both tunnel junctions. The junction parameters were estimated by fitting the experimental curve to the theoretical one.
Authors and Affiliations
J. GUTEK, S. WINIARZ, I. PIECHOCKA, P. PŁOTKA, R. CZAJKA
Keywords
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