Direct detection of a transport-blocking trap in a nanoscaled silicon single-electron transistor by radio-frequency reflectometry.

The continuous downscaling of transistors results in nanoscale devices which require fewer and fewer charged carriers for their operation. The ultimate charge controlled device, the singleelectron transistor (SET), controls the transfer of individual electrons. It is also the most sensitive electrometer, and as a result the electron transport through it can be dramatically affected by nearby charges. Standard direct-current characterization techniques, however, are often unable to unambiguously detect and resolve the origin of the observed changes in SET behavior arising from changes in the charge state of a capacitively coupled trap. Using a radio-frequency (RF) reflectometry technique, we are able to unequivocally detect this process, in very close agreement with modeling of the trap's occupation probability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]