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Heiss W.D. (ed.) Quantum dots.. a doorway to - tiera.ru

Heiss W.D. (ed.) Quantum dots.. a doorway to - tiera.ru

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34 J.M. Elzerman et al.<br />

a<br />

Ohmic<br />

contact<br />

gate<br />

deplet<strong>ed</strong><br />

region<br />

AlGaAs<br />

2DEG<br />

GaAs<br />

b<br />

400 nm<br />

Fig. 6. Lateral quantum dot device defin<strong>ed</strong> by metal surface electrodes.<br />

(a) Schematic view of a device. Negative voltages appli<strong>ed</strong> <strong>to</strong> metal gate electrodes<br />

(dark gray) lead <strong>to</strong> deplet<strong>ed</strong> regions (white) inthe2DEG(light gray). Ohmic contacts<br />

(light gray columns) enable bonding wires (not shown) <strong>to</strong> make electrical contact<br />

<strong>to</strong> the 2DEG reservoirs. (b) Scanning electron microscope image of an actual<br />

device, showing the gate electrodes (light gray) on <strong>to</strong>p of the surface (dark gray).<br />

The two white <strong>dots</strong> indicate two quantum <strong>dots</strong>, connect<strong>ed</strong> via tunable tunnel barriers<br />

<strong>to</strong> a source (S) and drain (D) reservoir, indicat<strong>ed</strong> in white. Thetwoupper gates<br />

can be us<strong>ed</strong> <strong>to</strong> create two quantum point contacts, in order <strong>to</strong> detect changes in the<br />

number of electrons on the dot<br />

The electron beam can accurately write very small patterns with a resolution<br />

of about 20 nm, allowing us <strong>to</strong> make very complicat<strong>ed</strong> gate st<strong>ru</strong>ctures<br />

(Fig. 6). By applying negative voltages <strong>to</strong> the gates, the 2DEG is locally<br />

deplet<strong>ed</strong>, creating one or more small islands that are isolat<strong>ed</strong> from the large<br />

2DEG reservoirs. These islands are the quantum <strong>dots</strong>. In order <strong>to</strong> probe them,<br />

we ne<strong>ed</strong> <strong>to</strong> make electrical contact <strong>to</strong> the reservoirs. For this, we use rapid<br />

thermal annealing <strong>to</strong> diffuse AuGeNi from the surface <strong>to</strong> the 2DEG below.<br />

This forms ohmic contacts that connect the 2DEG source and drain reservoirs<br />

electrically <strong>to</strong> metal bonding pads on the surface. Metal wires bond<strong>ed</strong> <strong>to</strong><br />

these pads <strong>ru</strong>n <strong>to</strong>ward the current or voltage probes, enabling us <strong>to</strong> perform<br />

transport measurements.<br />

1.5 Transport Though <strong>Quantum</strong> Dots<br />

We use two different ways <strong>to</strong> probe the behavior of electrons on a quantum<br />

dot. In this work, we mostly rely on a nearby quantum point contact (QPC) <strong>to</strong><br />

detect changes in the number of electrons on the dot. In addition, we can perform<br />

conventional transport experiments. These experiments are conveniently<br />

unders<strong>to</strong>od using the constant interaction (CI) model [27]. This model makes<br />

two important assumptions. First, the Coulomb interactions among electrons<br />

in the dot are captur<strong>ed</strong> by a single constant capacitance, C. This is the <strong>to</strong>tal<br />

capacitance <strong>to</strong> the outside world, i.e. C = CS + CD + Cg, where CS is the<br />

capacitance <strong>to</strong> the source, CD that <strong>to</strong> the drain, and Cg <strong>to</strong> the gate. Second,<br />

S<br />

D

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