D. A. Wharam

One-dimensional transport and the quantisation of the ballistic resistance

The authors present experimental results, and a supporting theory, showing that a one-dimensional system in which transport is ballistic possesses a quantised resistance, h/2ie2, where i is the number of occupied 1D sub-bands and the spin degeneracy is two. A short narrow channel is defined in the 2DEG of a GaAs-AlGaAs heterojunction and as the width of the system is changed, the sub-bands pass through the Fermi energy and the resistance jumps between quantised values. The value of the quantised resistance is derived and the accuracy of the quantisation is discussed. The effect can be strong at temperatures approximately 0.1 K, with up to 17 sub-bands being observed. The action of a transverse magnetic field is to depopulate the sub-bands and form hybrid levels; a parallel field lifts the spin degeneracy and brings about a further quantisation of resistance at values h/2(i+1/2)e2.

Addition of the one-dimensional quantised ballistic resistance

The authors present experimental results showing that the quantised nature of the ballistic resistance in narrow channels is preserved when the electrons pass ballistically through two narrow constrictions. As the width of each narrow channel is varied independently, the resistance of the pair is equal to the resistance of the narrowest; this is explained by the conservation of quantum (sub-band) number. The absolute quantisation is not as accurate as observed in a single constriction and is modified by an anomalous resistance whose origin the authors discuss.

Doped silicon single electron transistors with single island characteristics

Uniformly doped single electron transistors nominally consisting of a single island and two silicon tunneling barriers have been fabricated on silicon–on–insulator material. Two operation regimes are found depending upon the gate voltages applied. The structure acts either as a multiple tunnel junction device or as a single electron transistor consisting of a single dot corresponding to the geometrical shape of the device. The multiple tunnel junction behavior is attributed to the formation of additional tunneling barriers, introduced into the structure by the high doping level. We demonstrate that these barriers can be removed by raising the Fermi level via the application of an appropriate gate voltage.

Coulomb blockade in quasimetallic silicon-on-insulator nanowires

Using highly doped silicon-on-insulator (SOI) films, we demonstrate metallic Coulomb blockade in silicon nanowires at temperatures up to almost 100 K. We propose a process that leads to island formation inside the wire due to a combination of structural roughness and segregation effects during thermal oxidation. Hence, no narrowing of the SOI wire is necessary to form tunneling contacts to the single-electron transistors.

STATISTICS OF CONDUCTANCE OSCILLATIONS OF A QUANTUM DOT IN THE COULOMB-BLOCKADE REGIME

The fluctuations and the distribution of the conductance peak spacings of a quantum dot in the Coulomb-blockade regime are studied and compared with the predictions of random matrix theory (RMT). The experimental data were obtained in transport measurements performed on a semiconductor quantum dot fabricated in a GaAs-AlGaAs heterostructure. It is found that the fluctuations in the peak spacings are considerably larger than the mean level spacing in the quantum dot. The distribution of the spacings appears to be Gaussian both for zero and for non-zero magnetic field and deviates strongly from the RMT predictions.

STATISTICS OF THE COULOMB-BLOCKADE PEAK SPACINGS OF A SILICON QUANTUM DOT

We present an experimental study of the fluctuations of Coulomb-blockade peak positions of a quantum dot. The dot is defined by patterning the two-dimensional electron gas of a silicon metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor structure using stacked gates. This permits variation of the number of electrons on the quantum dot without significant shape distortion. The ratio of charging energy to single-particle energy is considerably larger than in comparable GaAs/AlxGa12xAs quantum dots. The statistical distribution of the conductance peak spacings in the Coulomb-blockade regime was found to be unimodal and does not follow the Wigner surmise. The fluctuations of the spacings are much larger than the typical single-particle level spacing and thus clearly contradict the expectation of constant interaction‐random matrix theory. @S0163-1829~99!50916-8#

Few electron limit of n-type metal oxide semiconductor single electron transistors

We report the electronic transport on n-type silicon single electron transistors (SETs) fabricated in complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) technology. The n-type metal oxide silicon SETs (n-MOSSETs) are built within a pre-industrial fully depleted silicon on insulator (FDSOI) technology with a silicon thickness down to 10 nm on 200 mm wafers. The nominal channel size of 20 × 20 nm(2) is obtained by employing electron beam lithography for active and gate level patterning. The Coulomb blockade stability diagram is precisely resolved at 4.2 K and it exhibits large addition energies of tens of meV. The confinement of the electrons in the quantum dot has been modeled by using a current spin density functional theory (CS-DFT) method. CMOS technology enables massive production of SETs for ultimate nanoelectronic and quantum variable based devices.

Low-energy electron-beam lithography using calixarene

Low-energy electron-beam lithography using calixarene as a negative electron resist has been investigated in the energy range between 0.5 and 20 keV. The suitability of electron energies down to 2 keV with a writing resolution of about 10 nm is clearly demonstrated. At low electron energies the required electron dose is drastically reduced. Moreover, irradiation damage during the exposure of a high-mobility two-dimensional electron gas using calixarene plays no significant role in the low-energy regime.

Single-electron charging in doped silicon double dots

We have fabricated and characterized a uniformly n-doped silicon double-dot structure. The electrical behaviour could be changed between that of a multiple tunnel junction and that of a double dot by applying appropriate gate voltages. The double-dot characteristics observed can be attributed to the geometry of the structure, and it is shown that the influence of the multiple tunnel junctions can be entirely eliminated. In the double-dot regime, characteristic charging diagrams were obtained by independently sweeping two sidegate voltages. Using a classical capacitance equivalent circuit the hexagonal lattice of the conductance resonances in the charging diagram was modelled and single-electron charging in the geometrical double dot is concluded from the match between model and experimental data.

Anomalous longitudinal magnetic field near the surface of copper conductors

We have used ultracold atoms to characterize the magnetic field near the surface of copper conductors at room temperature carrying currents between 0.045 and 2 A. In addition to the usual circular field we find an additional, 1000–10 000 times smaller longitudinal field. The field changes its strength periodically with a period of 200–300 μ m.