Investigations of Optical Coulomb Blockade Oscillations in Plasmonic Nanoparticle Dimers

The exploration of Coulomb blockade oscillations in plasmonic nanoparticle dimers is the subject of this study. When two metal nanoparticles are brought together at the end of their journey, tunnelling current prevents an infinite connection dipolar plasmon and an infinite amplification in the electric fields throughout the hot spot in between nanoparticles from occurring. One way to think about single-electron tunnelling through some kind of quantum dot is to think about Coulomb blockage oscillations in conductance. The electron transport between the dot and source is considered. The model of study is the linear conductance skilled at describing the basic physics of electronic states in the quantum dot. The linear conductance through the dot is defined as G = lim ⟶ 0 I / V in the limit of infinity of small bias voltage. We discuss the classical and quantum metallic Coulomb blockade oscillations. Numerically, the linear conductance was plotted as a function gate voltage. The Coulomb blockade oscillation occurs as gate voltage varies. In the valleys, the conductance falls exponentially as a function gate voltage. As a result of our study, the conductance is constant at high temperature and does not show oscillation in both positive and negative gate voltages. At low temperature, conductance shows oscillation in both positive and negative gate voltages.

A Modelling of Tunnelling Current through a Trapezoidal Potential Barrier by Using Exponential Wavefunction Approach

A tunnelling current through a trapezoidal barrier potential has been modelled. The transmittance is determined using the exponential wavefunction approach method. Furthermore, the transmittance is used to calculate the tunnelling current density by applying the Gauss-Laguerre quadrature method. The simulation results show the increasing bias voltage causes the raising tunnelling current, and an increase of temperature is proportional to the tunnelling current.

A Modelling of Tunnelling Current through a Trapezoidal Potential Barrier by Using Exponential Wavefunction Approach

A tunnelling current through a trapezoidal barrier potential has been modelled. The transmittance is determined using the exponential wavefunction approach method. Furthermore, the transmittance is used to calculate the tunnelling current density by applying the Gauss-Laguerre quadrature method. The simulation results show the increasing bias voltage causes the raising tunnelling current, and an increase of temperature is proportional to the tunnelling current.

The Nature of CVC Nonlinearity in Low-Voltage Scanning Tunneling Spectroscopy of Semiconductors

A new model of field emission in a scanning tunnelling microscope was developed. The model describes the tunnelling current from a surface of semiconductor (semimetal) and allows estimating the preexponential factor in the expression for the tunneling probability. It is shown that this factor is directly related to the degree of localization of the electron density and determines the shape of the local tunnel current-voltage characteristics (LTCVCs) at low voltages. The model allows separating the contributions of surface electronic states of different symmetry (dimension) of the tunnelling current. The practical application of the model is demonstrated by the example of mathematical processing of the LTCVCs of HOPG surface containing different structural defects.

Tunnelling Current Measurements Using Current Sensing Atomic Force Microscope

To realise the miniaturised devices, the precise measurement of nanoscale tunnelling current in ultrathin films is of utmost importance. For the nanoscale current measurements, current sensing atomic force microscope (CSAFM) is one of the most powerful tool. CSAFM allows to map the current distribution on the film surface and it permits to perform current measurements as a function of applied bias voltage. It has turned out to be crucial for studies of organic films. In CSAFM, a physical contact is made on film with a precise control of the applied force in nanonewton (nN) range. For the preparation of ultrathin film, Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) technique is known to provide a uniform film with a good control over the thickness in the molecular level. In the last two decades, there have been many CSAFM studies for the tunnelling current measurements. This review is intended to cover the literature on the tunnelling current measurements using CSAFM.

Low temperature two STM tip tunneling measurements of a floating chemical potential Pb(111) surface

On a Pb(111) superconducting surface, low temperature dI/dV tunnelling spectra are recorded between two scanning tunnelling microscopes (STM) metallic tips with the Pb(111) sample metallic support non-grounded. The tunnelling current intensity I passing between the 2 tips through the sample is controlled by changing one or both STM vacuum tunnelling junction resistances. The chemical potential of this floating Pb(111) surface depends on the normalized ratio between those two quantum resistances. When ungrounded, the Pb(111) sample chemical potential balances between those of the 2 STM tips while tuning their respective tip end atomic apex to Pb(111) surface distances with a picometer precision without any physical contact between the STM tips and the surface.

Thin Al 1− x Ga x As 0.56 Sb 0.44 diodes with extremely weak temperature dependence of avalanche breakdown

When using avalanche photodiodes (APDs) in applications, temperature dependence of avalanche breakdown voltage is one of the performance parameters to be considered. Hence, novel materials developed for APDs require dedicated experimental studies. We have carried out such a study on thin Al 1– x Ga x As 0.56 Sb 0.44 p–i–n diode wafers (Ga composition from 0 to 0.15), plus measurements of avalanche gain and dark current. Based on data obtained from 77 to 297 K, the alloys Al 1− x Ga x As 0.56 Sb 0.44 exhibited weak temperature dependence of avalanche gain and breakdown voltage, with temperature coefficient approximately 0.86–1.08 mV K −1 , among the lowest values reported for a number of semiconductor materials. Considering no significant tunnelling current was observed at room temperature at typical operating conditions, the alloys Al 1− x Ga x As 0.56 Sb 0.44 (Ga from 0 to 0.15) are suitable for InP substrates-based APDs that require excellent temperature stability without high tunnelling current.