Abstract
Nanometer-sized PbS particles in the size of about 3 nm produced by exposing a self-assembled monolayer of 11-mercaptoundecanoic acid salts on gold (111) substrate in a H2S atmosphere were studied by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy at room temperature in air. The stability of thus-obtained PbS nanoparticles makes STM imaging possible and repeatable scans of the semiconductor nanoparticles were performed. The current-voltage (I–V) characteristics of a single PbS nanoparticle exhibited clearly Coulomb blockade and Coulomb staircase. Furthermore, by varying the gap between a STM tip and the PbS nanoparticle, we also verified the dependence of staircase width on the change of the gap in the local I–V characteristics on the same PbS nanoparticle. The phenomena can be well described by a semi-classical double-barrier tunneling model.
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