< Back to previous page

Publication

Room temperature single electron transistor based on a size-selected aluminium cluster

Journal Contribution - Journal Article

Single electron transistors (SETs) are powerful devices to study the properties of nanoscale objects. However, the capabilities of placing a nano-object between electrical contacts under pristine conditions are lacking. Here, we developed a versatile two point contacting approach that tackles this challenge, which is demonstrated by constructing in situ a prototypical SET device consisting of a single aluminium cluster of 66 ± 5 atoms, deposited directly in a gold nanogap using an innovative cluster beam deposition technique. The gate driven conductance measurements demonstrate Coulomb blockade oscillations at room temperature correlating with an extracted charging energy of 0.14 eV, which is five times larger than kBT at 300 K. Our work provides a model SET device platform to probe the quantum features of nano-objects with high precision.
Journal: Nanoscale
ISSN: 2040-3364
Issue: 2
Volume: 12
Pages: 1164 - 1170
Publication year:2020
BOF-keylabel:yes
IOF-keylabel:yes
BOF-publication weight:6
CSS-citation score:1
Authors from:Higher Education
Accessibility:Open