QUANTUM-MECHANICAL EFFECTS IN THE SILICON QUANTUM-DOT IN A SINGLE-ELECTRON TRANSISTOR

The quantum mechanical effects in silicon single-electron transistors have been investigated. The devices have been fabricated in the form o f point contact metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors wit h various channel widths using electron beam lithography and the aniso tropic etching technique on silicon-on-insulator substrates. The devic e with an extremely narrow channel shows Coulomb blockade oscillations at room temperature. At low temperatures, negative differential condu ctances and fine structures are superposed on the device characteristi cs, which an attributed to the quantum mechanical effects in the silic on quantum dot in the channel. The energy spectrum of the dot is extra cted from the experimental results. (C) 1997 American Institute of Phy sics. [S0003-6951(97)02951-3].