Carbon nanotube single-electron transistors with single-electron charge storages

Abstract

Carbon nanotube single-electron transistors (CNTSETs) with single-electron charge storages were fabricated to detect single-electron charges from a CNT channel to a charge storage. A single-electron charge storage is composed of Au floating dots between tunneling and blocking layers of Al2O3. Electrons were injected into a Au floating dot by sweeping gate voltage, and the Coulomb peak was shifted owing to the effect of electrons inside the Au floating dot. In addition, a staircase relationship between the charging voltages and the peak positions was observed. The calculation based on this staircase relationship revealed that the single-electron charging into the Au floating dot was obtained. Therefore, our devices are one of the candidates for CNTSET-based single-electron memories, which can be used for digital operating and ultralow-power consumption devices.