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We report on dual-gate reflectometry in a metal-oxide-semiconductor double-gate silicon transistor operating at low temperature as a double quantum dot device. The reflectometry setup consists of two radio-frequency resonators respectively connected to the two gate electrodes. By simultaneously measuring their dispersive response, we obtain the complete charge stability diagram of the device. Charge transitions between the two quantum dots and between each quantum dot and either the source or the drain contact are detected through phase shifts in the reflected radio-frequency signals. At finite bias, reflectometry allows probing charge transitions to excited quantum-dot states thereby enabling direct access to the energy level spectra of the quantum dots. Interestingly, we find that in the presence of charge transport across the two dots the reflectometry signatures of interdot transitions display a dip-peak structure containing quantitative information on the charge relaxation rates in the double quantum dot., Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures

We report the use of plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition (PEALD) to fabricate single-electron transistors (SETs) featuring ultra-thin (~1 nm) tunnel-transparent SiO2 in Ni-SiO2-Ni tunnel junctions. We show that as a result of the O2 plasma steps in PEALD of SiO2, the top surface of the underlying Ni electrode is oxidized. Additionally, the bottom surface of the upper Ni layer is also oxidized where it is in contact with the deposited SiO2, most likely as a result of oxygen-containing species on the surface of the SiO2. Due to the presence of these surface parasitic layers of NiO, which exhibit features typical of thermally activated transport, the resistance of Ni-SiO2-Ni tunnel junctions is drastically increased. Moreover, the transport mechanism is changed from quantum tunneling through the dielectric barrier to one consistent with thermally activated resistors in series with tunnel junctions. The reduction of NiO to Ni is therefore required to restore the metal-insulator-metal (MIM) structure of the junctions. Rapid thermal annealing in a forming gas ambient at elevated temperatures is presented as a technique to reduce both parasitic oxide layers. This method is of great interest for devices that rely on MIM tunnel junctions with ultra-thin barriers. Using this technique, we successfully fabricated MIM SETs with minimal trace of parasitic NiO component. We demonstrate that the properties of the tunnel barrier in nanoscale tunnel junctions can be evaluated by electrical characterization of SETs., Comment: 19 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in JVST A

A single-electron latch is a device that can be used as a building block for Quantum-dot Cellular Automata (QCA) circuits. It consists of three nanoscale metal "dots" connected in series by tunnel junctions; charging of the dots is controlled by three electrostatic gates. One very important feature of a single-electron latch is its ability to store ("latch") information represented by the location of a single electron within the three dots. To obtain latching, the undesired leakage of charge during the retention time must be suppressed. Previously, to achieve this goal, multiple tunnel junctions were used to connect the three dots. However, this method of charge leakage suppression requires an additional compensation of the background charges affecting each parasitic dot in the array of junctions. We report a single-electron latch where a granular metal film is used to fabricate the middle dot in the latch which concurrently acts as a charge leakage suppressor. This latch has no parasitic dots, therefore the background charge compensation procedure is greatly simplified. We discuss the origins of charge leakage suppression and possible applications of granular metal dots for various single-electron circuits., Comment: 21 pages, 4 figures

The electrostatic interaction between two capacitively-coupled metal double-dots is studied at low temperatures. Experiments show that when the Coulomb blockade is lifted by applying appropriate gate biases to both double-dots, the conductance through each double-dot becomes significantly lower than when only one double-dot is conducting. A master equation is derived for the system and the results obtained agree well with the experimental data. The model suggests that the conductance lowering in each double-dot is caused by a single-electron tunneling in the other double-dot. Here, each double-dot responds to the instantaneous, rather than average, potentials on the other double-dot. This leads to correlated electron motion within the system, where the position of a single electron in one double-dot controls the tunneling rate through the other double-dot., Comment: 19 pages [pre-print style], 8 figures, accepted for Phys. Rev. B