We report finite-bias characteristics of electrical transport through phosphorus donors in silicon nanoscale transistors, in which we observe inelastic-cotunneling current in the Coulomb-blockade region. The cotunneling current appears like a resonant-tunneling current peak emerging from the excited state and sustain within the blockade regions. These cotunneling features are unique, since the inelastic-cotunneling currents have so far been reported either as a broader hump or as a continuous increment of current. This finding is ascribed purely due to excitation-related inelastic cotunneling involving the ground and excited states. Theoretical calculations were performed for a two-level quantum dot, supporting our experimental observation.
Current–voltage characteristics of a quantum dot in double-barrier configuration, as formed in the nanoscale channel of silicon transistors, were analyzed both experimentally and theoretically. Single electron transistors (SET) made in a SOI-FET configuration using silicon quantum dot as well as phosphorus donor quantum dots were experimentally investigated. These devices exhibited a quantum Coulomb blockade phenomenon along with a detectable effect of variable tunnel barriers. To replicate the experimental results, we developed a generalized formalism for the tunnel-barrier dependent quantum Coulomb blockade by modifying the rate-equation approach. We qualitatively replicate the experimental results with numerical calculation using this formalism for two and three energy levels participated in the tunneling transport. The new formalism supports the features of most of the small-scaled SET devices.
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