Coulomb-blockade dominated transport in patterned gold-cluster structures

In this paper we present the fabrication and near-room temperature electrical transport properties of structures made from the;gold-cluster material Au-55[P(C6H5)(3)](12)Cl-6 We discuss the use of electron-beam lithography to define the structures laterally and compare the direct current-voltage characteristics of non-patterned and patterned structures. In both cases non-linear behavior is observed with features that are consistent with Coulomb blockade dominated transport in disordered arrays of clusters. Radio frequency induced plateaus in the current-voltage characteristics demonstrate coherent tunneling. Finally we show that other ligand stabilized gold-cluster materials can be used to form ordered gold-cluster arrays.