title: Room-temperature single-electron junction.
abstract: The design, realization, and test performances of an electronic junction based on single-electron phenomena that works in the air at room temperature are hereby reported. The element consists of an electrochemically etched sharp tungsten stylus over whose tip a nanometer-size crystal was synthesized. Langmuir-Blodgett films of cadmium arachidate were transferred onto the stylus and exposed to a H2S atmosphere to yield CdS nanocrystals (30-50 angstrom in diameter) imbedded into an organic matrix. The stylus, biased with respect to a flat electrode, was brought to the tunnel distance from the film and a constant gap value was maintained by a piezo-electric actuator driven by a feedback circuit fed by the tunneling current. With this set-up, it is possible to measure the behavior of the current flowing through the quantum dot when a bias voltage is applied. Voltage-current characteristics measured in the system displayed single-electron trends such as a Coulomb blockade and Coulomb staircase and revealed capacitance values as small as 10(-19) F.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biophysics, University of Genova, Genoa, Italy.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Facci
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Erokhin
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Carrara
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Nicolini