Single-electron devices via controlled assembly of designed nanoparticles

Single-electron transistors (SET) rely for their functionality on extreme control of lithography and lateral positioning as well as of properties of the building blocks from which the devices are built. BY an aerosol-based nanoparticle fabrication we can prepare nanocrystals down to sub-10nm dimensions with metallic or semiconducting character, as well as having a core + shell design for definition of tunnel-gaps. We present here results for a type of device that is based on the possibility to design functionality in the internal structure of the nanoparticles which are used as building blocks. We use such pre-fabricated building blocks to construct coulomb blockade devices and show that they operate at temperatures above 150K.