Excited states and quantum confinement in room temperature few nanometre scale silicon single electron transistors.

Single nanometre scale quantum dots (QDs) have significant potential for many 'beyond CMOS' nanoelectronics and quantum computation applications. The fabrication and measurement of few nanometre silicon point-contact QD single-electron transistors are reported, which both operate at room temperature (RT) and are fabricated using standard processes. By combining thin silicon-on-insulator wafers, specific device geometry, and controlled oxidation, <10 nm nanoscale point-contact channels are defined.

Single-electron and quantum confinement limits in length-scaled silicon nanowires.

Quantum-effects will play an important role in both future CMOS and 'beyond CMOS' technologies. By comparing single-electron transistors formed in un-patterned, uniform-width silicon nanowire (SiNW) devices with core widths from ∼5-40 nm, and gated lengths of 1 μm and ∼50 nm, we show conditions under which these effects become significant. Coulomb blockade drain-source current-voltage characteristics, and single-electron current oscillations with gate voltage have been observed at room temperature.