LONG TERM CHARGE RELAXATION IN SILICON SINGLE ELECTRON TRANSISTORS

Single electron transistor fabricated on heavily doped silicon-on-insulator substrate

Experiments on side-gated silicon single electron transistors (SET) fabricated on a heavily doped thin silicon-on-insulator substrate are reported. Some of the devices showed single-island-like and some multi-island-like behaviour, but the properties of individual samples changed with time. Single-electron gate modulation was observable up to T=100 K, at least. A slow response of SET current to a large change in gate voltage was observed, but the process speeded up under illumination.

Electron-phonon heat transport in degenerate Si at low temperatures

The thermal conductance between electrons and phonons in a solid state system becomes comparatively weak at sub‐Kelvin temperatures. In this work five batches of thin heavily doped silicon‐on‐insulator samples with the electron concentration in the range of 2.0–16 × 1019 cm–3 were studied. Below 1 K all the samples were in the dirty limit of the thermal electron‐phonon coupling, where the thermal phonon wavelength exceeds the electron mean free path. The heat flow between electrons and phonons is proportional to (T6e–T6ph), where Te (Tph) is the electron (phonon) temperature. The constant of proportionality of the heat flow strongly depends on the electron concentration and its magnitude is…

Intervalley-scattering-induced electron-phonon energy relaxation in many-valley semiconductors at low temperatures

We report on the effect of elastic intervalley scattering on the energy transport between electrons and phonons in many-valley semiconductors. We derive a general expression for the electron-phonon energy flow rate at the limit where elastic intervalley scattering dominates over diffusion. Electron heating experiments on heavily doped n-type Si samples with electron concentration in the range $3.5-16.0\times 10^{25}$ m$^{-3}$ are performed at sub-1 K temperatures. We find a good agreement between the theory and the experiment.

Efficient electronic cooling in heavily doped silicon by quasiparticle tunneling

Cooling of electrons in a heavily doped silicon by quasiparticle tunneling using a superconductor–semiconductor–superconductor double-Schottky-junction structure is demonstrated at low temperatures. In this work, we use Al as the superconductor and thin silicon-on-insulator (SOI) film as the semiconductor. The electron–phonon coupling is measured for the SOI film and the low value of the coupling is shown to be the origin of the observed significant cooling effect.

Silicon Single Electron Transistors with Single and Multi Dot Characteristics

AbstractSilicon single electron transistors (SET) with side gate have been fabricated on a heavily doped silicon-on-insulator (SOI) substrate. Samples demonstrate two types of characteristics: some of them demonstrate multiple dot behavior and one demonstrates single dot behavior in a wide temperature range. SETs demonstrate oscillations of drain-source current and changes in the width of the Coulomb blockade region with change of gate voltage at least up to 100 K. At temperature below 20 K long-term oscillations (relaxation) of source-drain current after switching the gate voltage has been observed in both multiple dot and single dot samples. Illumination affects both the characteristics o…

Electron–phonon coupling in degenerate silicon-on-insulator film probed using superconducting Schottky junctions

Abstract Energy flow rate in degenerate n-type silicon-on-insulator (SOI) film is studied at low temperatures. The electrons are heated above the lattice temperature by electric field and the electron temperature is measured via semiconductor–superconductor quasiparticle tunneling. The energy flow rate in the system is found to be proportional to T 5 , indicating that electron–phonon relaxation rate and electron–phonon phase breaking rate are proportional to T 3 . The electron–phonon system in the SOI film is in the “dirty limit” where the electron mean free path is smaller than the inverse of the thermal phonon wave vector.

Integrated SINIS refrigerators for efficient cooling of cryogenic detectors

In this paper we report recent results obtained with large area superconductor-insulator-normal metal-insulator-superconductor tunnel junction coolers. With the devices we have successfully demonstrated electronic cooling from 260 mK to 80 mK with a cooling power of 20 pW at 80 mK. At present, we are focusing on obtaining similar performance in cooling cryogenic detectors. Additionally, we present recent results of successful operation of a metalsemiconductor structure with a Schottky barrier acting as the tunnel barrier and the possibility to use this kind of structures for on-chip cooling.

ELECTRON-PHONON COUPLING IN HEAVILY DOPED SILICON

The coupling constant in electron-phonon interaction is a very important issue in nanoscale applications. We have measured this constant in heavily doped silicon. Electron-phonon interaction is proportional to T6 and the coupling constant is found to be 1.5 × 108 W/K5m³, which is about one tenth of the value in normal metals.

Application of superconductor-semiconductor Schottky barrier for electron cooling

Abstract Electronic cooling in superconductor–semiconductor–superconductor structures at sub kelvin temperatures has been demonstrated. Effect of the carrier concentration in the semiconductor on performance of the micro-cooler has been investigated.

Electron-phonon heat transport and electronic thermal conductivity in heavily doped silicon-on-insulator film

Electron–phonon interaction and electronic thermal conductivity have been investigated in heavily doped silicon at subKelvin temperatures. The heat flow between electron and phonon systems is found to be proportional to T6. Utilization of a superconductor–semiconductor–superconductor thermometer enables a precise measurement of electron and substrate temperatures. The electronic thermal conductivity is consistent with the Wiedemann–Franz law. Peer reviewed

Large 256-Pixel X-ray Transition-Edge Sensor Arrays With Mo/TiW/Cu Trilayers

We describe the fabrication and electrical characterization of 256-pixel X-ray transition-edge sensor (TES) arrays intended for materials analysis applications. The processing is done on 6-in wafers, providing capabilities on a commercial scale. TES films were novel proximity coupled Mo/TiW/Cu trilayers, where the thin TiW layer in between aims to improve the stability of the devices by preventing unwanted effects such as Mo/Cu interdiffusion. The absorber elements were electrodeposited gold of thickness 2 μm. The single-pixel design discussed here is the so-called Corbino geometry. Most design goals were successfully met, such as the critical temperature, thermal time constant, and transit…

Electronic cooling and hot electron effects in heavily doped silicon-on-insulator film

The influence of carrier concentration in silicon-on-insulator film on the thermal characteristics of semiconductor and performance of the superconductor-semiconductor-superconductor micro-coolers have been investigated at sub kelvin temperatures. The overheating of the lattice in heavily doped silicon film must be taken into account in the analysis of electron-phonon coupling experiment and operation of the cooler device. The heat flow between electrons and phonons in heavily doped silicon films is found to be proportional to T6, which is in accordance with theoretical prediction for dirty limit. Increasing the doping level in the semiconductor considerably increases both the efficiency of…

Silicon quantum point contact with aluminum gate

Fabrication and electrical properties of silicon quantum point contacts are reported. The devices are fabricated on bonded silicon on insulator (SOI) wafers by combining CMOS process steps and e-beam lithography. Mobility of 9000 cm2 Vs−1 is measured for a 60 nm-thick SOI film at 10 K. Weak localization data is used to estimate the phase coherence length at 4.2 K The point contacts show step like behaviour in linear response conductance at 1.5 K. At 200 mK universal conductance fluctuations begin to dominate the conductance curve. The effective diameter of quantum point constrictions of the devices are estimated to be 30–40 nm. This estimate is based on TEM analysis of test structures and A…