C. Schonenberger et al., SINGLE-ELECTRON TUNNELING IN DOUBLE-BARRIER JUNCTIONS BY SCANNING-TUNNELING-MICROSCOPY, Applied surface science, 67(1-4), 1993, pp. 222-227
Ultrasmall (less than or similar to 5 nm in lateral diameter) double-b
arrier tunnel junctions have been realized using a scanning tunneling
microscope and an optimized metal-particle-oxide-metallic substrate sy
stem. The effects of single-electron charging (single-electron tunneli
ng) on the current-voltage characteristics are studied experimentally
at 4.2 K. The circumstances under which a Coulomb staircase is observa
ble for this kind of model systems is investigated systematically, usi
ng the orthodox theory of single-electron tunneling to analyze the dat
a.