Coulomb Blockade Effects in a Highly Doped Silicon Quantum Wire Fabricated on Novel Molecular Beam Epitaxy Grown Material

Abstract

Coulomb blockade effects are studied in highly doped molecular-beam-epitaxy grown silicon quantum wires. The nanometer structure of the single electron tunneling transistor (SETT) is fabricated by electron beam lithography (EBL), anisotropic reactive ion etching (RIE) and low temperature oxide deposition. An extended Coulomb blockade is observed even at T =130 K in the I - V characteristics, while outside the blockade region a clear Coulomb staircase is visible. The zero-conductivity range is significantly affected by the applied gate voltage. In addition, oscillations of the Coulomb blockade with gate potential are observed. The nature of tunnel barriers present in this wire is discussed.