Critical behavior of Si:P at the metal-insulator transition

A Comment on the Letter by H. Stupp et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 71, 2634 (1993).

Coulomb blockade thermometry

One dimensional arrays of normal metal tunnel junctions have been found to exhibit properties which are very suitable for primary and secondary thermometry in a lithographically adjustable temperature range which extends over about two decades. The thermometer is remarkably insensitive to nonuniformities in the actual pattern and to even strong magnetic fields. We also discuss the behaviour of this device at very low temperatures where the hot electron effect due to poor electron phonon coupling ultimately takes over and at very high temperatures where the finite tunnel barrier effects appear. Short arrays, and especially single tunnel junctions show interesting deviations from the universa…

Control of single-electron tunneling by surface acoustic waves.

IV-Curves of tunnel junction arrays at lowered temperature by numerical simulation

We have numerically investigated the effect of lowered T on the performance of the Coulomb blockade thermometer, which has been demostrated to yield primary thermometry in the high T limit where thermal excitations compete with the Coulomb blockade. The thermometer is formed by an array of tunnel junctions whose differentiated IV—curve is used to determine the temperature. The IV—curves were calculated by computer simulations and we have obtained corrections to the analytic high T behaviour due to the lowered temperature.

Arrays of normal metal tunnel junctions in weak Coulomb blockade regime

Universal features of I–V characteristics of one‐dimensional arrays of normal metal tunnel junctions have been tested against inhomogenities in the junction parameters, number of junctions in the array, and magnetic field. We find that the differential conductance versus bias voltage obeys the analytic form to within 1% if the fabrication errors are smaller than 10% in junction areas, and if the array has more than ten junctions. Furthermore, the universal relation is insensitive to magnetic field at least up to 8 T.

Numerical investigation of one‐dimensional tunnel junction arrays at temperatures above the Coulomb blockade regime

Arrays of tunnel junctions provide simple thermometric parameters in the limit where thermal excitations dominate over charging effects. We present numerical simulations for calculating the current versus voltage characteristics of an arbitrary one‐dimensional array at arbitrary temperatures on the premise of the ‘‘orthodox theory.’’ The purpose of the computer simulations is to investigate the suitability of tunnel junction arrays for thermometry at low temperatures when the analytical formulas do not hold and, specifically, to see the effect of background charges in this regime.

Thermometry by Arrays of Tunnel Junctions

We show that arrays of tunnel junctions between normal metal electrodes exhibit features suitable for primary thermometry in an experimentally adjustable temperature range where thermal and charging effects compete. $I\ensuremath{-}V$ and $\frac{\mathrm{dI}}{\mathrm{dV}}$ vs $V$ have been calculated for two junctions including a universal analytic high temperature result. Experimentally the width of the conductance minimum in this regime scales with $T$ and $N$, the number of junctions, and its value (per junction) agrees with the calculated one to within 3% for large $N$. The height of this feature is inversely proportional to $T$.

Primary thermometry with nanoscale tunnel junctions

We have found current-voltage (I-V) and conductance (dI/dV) characteristics of arrays of nanoscale tunnel junctions between normal metal electrodes to exhibit suitable features for primary thermometry. The current through a uniform array depends on the ratio of the thermal energy kBT and the electrostatic charging energy E c of the islands between the junctions and is completely blocked by Coulomb repulsion at T = 0 and at small voltages eV/2 ≤ Ec. In the opposite limit, kBT ≫ Ec, the width of the conductance minimum scales linearly and universally with T and N, the number of tunnel junctions, and qualifies as a primary thermometer. The zero bias drop in the conductance is proportional to T…

Pumping of single electrons with a traveling wave

Abstract We describe the operation and performance of a one-dimensional chain of small metallic islands whose potentials are modulated in a wave-like manner. The sinusoidal voltages, applied to the gate electrodes, carry individual charges coherently through the array. In practice, the wave-like potential is induced on the gates by a surface acoustic wave (SAW) traveling on a piezoelectric substrate. The resulting transfer of charges should produce a DC current I = ± ef through the chain, where f is the frequency of the wave and the sign ofthe current depends on the value of the common DC bias of the islands as well as on the direction of the wave propagation. We observe, however, a much sm…