Coulomb blockade in a Si channel gated by an Al single-electron transistor

Abstract

We incorporate an Al–AlOx–Al single-electron transistor as the gate of a narrow (∼100nm) metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET). Near the MOSFET channel conductance threshold, we observe oscillations in the conductance associated with Coulomb blockade in the channel, revealing the formation of a Si single-electron transistor. Abrupt steps present in sweeps of the Al transistor conductance versus gate voltage are correlated with single-electron charging events in the Si transistor, and vice versa. Analysis of these correlations using a simple electrostatic model demonstrates that the two single-electron transistor islands are closely aligned, with an interisland capacitance approximately equal to 1∕3 of the total capacitance of the Si transistor island, indicating that the Si transistor is strongly coupled to the Al transistor.