Single-electron capacitance spectroscopy of discrete quantum levels

Abstract

We observe the capacitance signal resulting from single electrons tunneling into discrete quantum levels. The electrons tunnel between a metallic layer and confined states of a single disk in a microscopic capacitor fabricated in GaAs. Charge transfer occurs only for bias voltages at which a quantum level resonates with the Fermi energy of the metallic layer. This creates a sequence of distinct capacitance peaks whose bias positions directly reflect the electronic spectrum of the confined structure. From the magnetic field evolution of the spectrum, we deduce the nature of the bound states.