Coulomb blockade effects in anodically oxidized titanium wires

We investigate the electrical transport properties of narrow titanium (Ti) wires which are anodically oxidized through a resist mask. At temperatures below 1.2 K the current-voltage characteristics of the resulting Ti/TiOx na nostructures exhibit a zero-current state, characteristic of the Coulomb bl ockade. The blockade region can be modulated by a capacitively coupled gate electrode. The observed experimental features can be explained in terms of a single electron tunneling model of a multi-island device. (C) 2000 Ameri can institute of Physics. [S0021-8979(00)05424-4].