A self-assembled single-electron tunneling device

Single-electron tunneling devices were made by self-assembly of colloidal ligand-stabilized gold clusters in the small gap between two gold electrodes, which were covered with a self-assembled monolayer of 1,8-octanedithiol. With this method we control the size of the active part of the device which is smaller than the traditional lithographic resolution, with chemical methods and use self-positioning of the particle by weak forces between the substrate and the particle. The current voltage characteristic of the devices exhibit a Coulomb staircase and gate effect at 4.2 K, and a prominent Coulomb blockade at room temperature.