Controlled crossover of electron transport in graphene nanoconstriction:From Coulomb blockade to electron interference

The ability to control transport behaviors in nanostructure is crucial for usage as a fundamental research platform as well as a practical device.In this study,we report a gate-controlled crossover of electron transport behaviors using graphene nanoconstrictions as a platform.The observed transport properties span from Coulomb blockade-dominated single electron transmission to electron-wave interference-dominated quantum behavior.Such drastic modulation is achieved by utilizing a single back gate on a graphene nanoconstriction structure,where the size of nanostructure in the constriction and coupling strength of it to the electrodes can be tuned electrically.Our results indicate that electrostatic field by gate voltage upon the confined nanostructure defines both the size of the nanoconstriction as well as its interaction to electrodes.Increasing gate voltage raises Fermi level to cross the energy profile in the nanoconstriction,resulting in decreased energy barriers which affect the size of nanoconstriction and transmissivity of electrons.The gate-tunable nanoconstriction device can therefore become a potential platform to study quantum critical behaviors and enrich electronic and spintronic devices.

Transition from the Kondo effect to a Coulomb blockade in an electron shuttle

We investigate the effect of the mechanical motion of a quantum dot on the transport properties of a quantum dot shuttle, Employing the equation of motion method for the nonequilibrium Green＇s function, we show that the oscillation of the dot, i.e., the time-dependent coupling between the dot＇s electron and the reservoirs, can destroy the Kondo effect. With the increase in the oscillation frequency of the dot, the density of states of the quantum dot shuttle changes from the Kondo-like to a Coulomb-blockade pattern. Increasing the coupling between the dot and the electrodes may partly recover the Kondo peak in the spectrum of the density of states. Understanding of the effect of mechanical motion on the transport properties of an electron shuttle is important for the future application of nanoelectromechanical devices.

Quantum phase transition and Coulomb blockade effect in triangular quantum dots with interdot capacitive and tunnel couplings

The quantum phase transition and the electronic transport in a triangular quantum dot system are investigated using the numerical renormalization group method.We concentrate on the interplay between the interdot capacitive coupling V and the interdot tunnel coupling t.For small t,three dots form a local spin doublet.As t increases,due to the competition between V and t,there exist two first-order transitions with phase sequence spin-doublet-magnetic frustration phase-orbital spin singlet.When t is absent,the evolutions of the total charge on the dots and the linear conductance are of the typical Coulomb-blockade features with increasing gate voltage.While for sufficient t,the antiferromagnetic spin correlation between dots is enhanced,and the conductance is strongly suppressed for the bonding state is almost doubly occupied.

COULOMB BLOCKADE EFFECT IN SELF-ASSEMBLED GOLD QUANTUM DOTS

Nanometer-scale Au quantum dots have been assembled on SiO2 by controlling the reaction of raw materials to form a citrate Au sol and an aminosilane/dithiol-treated patterned Si wafer. The detailed formation mechanism has been studied. Three gold colloidal particles (15 nm), aligned in a chain to form a one-dimensional current path, was bridged across an 80-nm gap between source and drain metal electrodes. The device exhibited a Coulomb blockade effect at 33 K.

Detection of Majorana fermions in an Aharonov-Bohm interferometer

By using the non-equilibrium Green＇s function technique, we investigate the electronic transport properties in an Aharonov-Bohm interferometer coupling with Majorana fermions. We find a fixed unit conductance peak which is in-dependent of the other factors when the topological superconductor is grounded. Especially, an additional phase appears when the topological superconductor is in the strong Coulomb regime, which induces a new conductance resonant peak compared with the structure of replacing the topological superconductor by a quantum dot, and the conductance oscillation with the magnetic flux reveals a 2π phase shift by raising （lowering） a charge on the capacitor.

Current-voltage characteristics of an individual helical CdS nanowire rope

This paper studies the electronic transport in an individual helically twisted CdS nanowire rope, on which platinum microleads are attached by focused-ion beam deposition. The current-voltage （I - V） characteristics are nonlinear from 300 down to 60 K. Some step-like structures in the I - V curves and oscillation peaks in the differential conductance （dI/dV - V） curves have been observed even at room temperature. It proposes that the observed behaviour can be attributed to Coulomb-blockade transport in the one-dimensional CdS nanowires with diameters of 6-10 nm.

Preparation of size controllable copper nanocrystals for nonvolatile memory applications

A method of fabricating Cu nanocrystals embedded in SiO2 dielectric film for nonvolatile memory applications by magnetron sputtering is introduced in this paper. The average size and distribution density of Cu nanocrystal grains are controlled by adjusting experimental parameters. The relationship between nanocrystal floating gate micro-structure and its charge storage capability is also discussed theoretically.

Effect of Nano Silver Modification on the Dielectric Properties of Ag@TiO_(2)/PVDF Composites

To get a dielectric material with a high dielectric permittivity and suppressed dielectric loss,nano-Ag with a particle size of 20 nm and Ag@TiO_(2)core-shell particles with diameters of approximately 70-120 nm were embedded in polyvinylidene fluoride(PVDF)to fabricate nano-Ag/Ag@TiO_(2)/PVDF composites.After being modified by nano-Ag with 3 vol%optimal amount,the relative permittivity(ε_r)at 100 Hz of 50 vol%Ag@TiO_(2)/PVDF composites was 61,and the dielectric loss can be suppressed to 0.04,almost 96.4%lower than that of unmodified composites,and a higher frequency stability of bothε_r and loss has also been found.The underlying mechanism of the reduced loss was attributed to Maxwell-Wagner polarization and the Coulomb blockade effect caused by the introduction of a small amount of nano-Ag,which will block the movement of electrons between metal nanoparticles and composites.The space charge polarization and conductance loss are weakened at lower and higher Ag@TiO_(2)filling ratios,respectively,thus leading to a very low loss of the composites.

Single-electron pumping in a ZnO single-nanobelt quantum dot transistor

Diluted magnetic semiconductors(DMSs)have traditionally been employed to implement spin-based quantum computing and quantum information processing.However,their low Curie temperature is a major hurdle in their use in this field,which creates the necessity for wide bandgap DMSs operating at room temperature.In view of this,a single-electron transistor(SET)with a global back-gate was built using a wide bandgap ZnO nanobelt(NB).Clear Coulomb oscillations were observed at 4.2 K.The periodicity of the Coulomb diamonds indicates that the Coulomb oscillations arise from single quantum dots of uniform size,whereas quasi-periodic Coulomb diamonds correspond to the contribution of multi-dots present in the ZnO NB.By applying an AC signal to the global back-gate across a Coulomb peak with varying frequencies,single-electron pumping was observed;the increase in current was equal to the production of electron charge and frequency.The current accuracy of about 1%for both single-and double-electron pumping was achieved at a high frequency of 25 MHz.This accurate single-electron pumping makes the ZnO NB SET suitable for single-spin injection and detection,which has great potential for applications in quantum information technology.

A sensitive charge scanning probe based on silicon single electron transistor

Single electron transistors（SETs） are known to be extremely sensitive electrometers owing to their high charge sensitivity. In this work, we report the design, fabrication, and characterization of a silicon-on-insulatorbased SET scanning probe. The fabricated SET is located about 10 m away from the probe tip. The SET with a quantum dot of about 70 nm in diameter exhibits an obvious Coulomb blockade effect measured at 4.1 K. The Coulomb blockade energy is about 18 me V, and the charge sensitivity is in the order of 10^-（5）–10（^-3）e/Hz^（1/2）. This SET scanning probe can be used to map charge distribution and sense dynamic charge fluctuation in nanodevices or circuits under test, realizing high sensitivity and high spatial resolution charge detection.