Sequential tunneling and inelastic cotunneling in nanoparticle arrays
Autor: | Xiao-Min Lin, T. B. Tran, Igor S. Beloborodov, Jingshi Hu, Thomas Rosenbaum, Heinrich M. Jaeger |
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Rok vydání: | 2008 |
Předmět: |
Physics
Condensed matter physics Condensed Matter - Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics Conductance Coulomb blockade FOS: Physical sciences 02 engineering and technology Electron 021001 nanoscience & nanotechnology Condensed Matter Physics Curvature Condensed Matter::Mesoscopic Systems and Quantum Hall Effect 01 natural sciences Electronic Optical and Magnetic Materials k-nearest neighbors algorithm 0103 physical sciences Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics (cond-mat.mes-hall) Perpendicular Quasiparticle 010306 general physics 0210 nano-technology Quantum tunnelling |
DOI: | 10.48550/arxiv.0805.3567 |
Popis: | We investigate transport in weakly-coupled metal nanoparticle arrays, focusing on the regime where tunneling is competing with strong single electron charging effects. This competition gives rise to an interplay between two types of charge transport. In sequential tunneling, transport is dominated by independent electron hops from a particle to its nearest neighbor along the current path. In inelastic cotunneling, transport is dominated by cooperative, multi-electron hops that each go to the nearest neighbor but are synchronized to move charge over distances of several particles. In order to test how the temperature-dependent cotunnel distance affects the current-voltage ($I-V$) characteristics we perform a series of systematic experiments on highly-ordered, close-packed nanoparticle arrays. The arrays consist of $\sim 5.5$nm diameter gold nanocrystals with tight size dispersion, spaced $\sim 1.7$nm apart by interdigitating shells of dodecanethiol ligands. We present $I-V$ data for mono-, bi-, tri- and tetralayer arrays. For stacks 2-4 layers thick we compare in-plane measurements with data for vertical transport, perpendicular to the array plane. Our results support a picture whereby transport inside the Coulomb blockade regime occurs by inelastic cotunneling, while sequential tunneling takes over at large bias above the global Coulomb blockade threshold $V_t(T)$, and at high temperatures. Comment: 7 figures, 9 pages; Missing abstract |
Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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