With a view to improving the performance of single electron tunneling (SET) devices, it is desirable to minimize the charge island dimensions. This would allow higher operating temperatures to be achieved by a reduction of the island capacitance and the background charge noise to be reduced by minimization of the contact area between island and substrate. In this paper, a new fabrication method is presented which combines a four-angle evaporation method with a dry etching process and allows SET devices to be prepared with self-aligned positioning of a small island.