Coulomb blockade oscillations in ultrathin gate oxide silicon single-electron transistors

Ultrathin oxide-gated (thickness similar to 6 nm) point-contact junctions have been fabricated to explore single-electron charging effects in strongly gate-dot-coupled polycrystallinesilicon transistors. Current-voltage (I-V) measurements show periodic current oscillations near room temperature. Analysis of the energy-level spacing relates the electron charging energy to a quantum dot of size similar to 8 nm, and also suggests electron tunneling is via the first excited state. These low-power similar to 30 pW and low-cost devices can be useful for the next generation nanoelectronics. (C) 2005 American Institute of Physics.