Giving electrons a ride: nanomechanical electron shuttles

Abstract

Nanomechanical shuttles transferring small groups of electrons or even individual electrons from one electrode to another offer a novel approach to the problem of controlled charge transport. Here, we report the fabrication of shuttle-junctions consisting of a 20 nm diameter gold nanoparticle embedded within the gap between two gold electrodes. The nanoparticle is attached to the electrodes through a monolayer of flexible organic molecules which play the role of springs so that when a sufficient voltage bias is applied, then nanoparticle starts to oscillate transferring electrons from one electrode to the other. Current-voltage characteristics for the fabricated devices have been measured and compared with the results of our computer simulations.

11 pages, 4 figures

References in corpus (5)

• Quantum nano-electromechanics with electrons, quasiparticles and Cooper pairs: effective bath descriptions and strong feedback effects
• Dynamics of a nanomechanical resonator coupled to a superconducting single-electron transistor
• The charge shuttle as a nanomechanical ratchet
• Nuclear wave function interference in single-molecule electron transport
• Dynamics and Current Fluctuations in AC driven Charge Shuttle

Cited by in corpus (16)

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• Stochastic thermodynamics of self-oscillations: the electron shuttle
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• Thermoelectric transport through a quantum nanoelectromechanical system and its backaction
• Dynamics of a nano-scale rotor driven by single-electron tunneling
• Dissipative nonequilibrium synchronization of topological edge states via self-oscillation
• Proposal of a realistic stochastic rotor engine based on electron shuttling
• Current-oscillator correlation and Fano factor spectrum of quantum shuttle with finite bias voltage and temperature
• Optomechanical preparation of photon number-squeezed states with a pair of thermal reservoirs of opposite temperatures
• Dephasing of electrons in the Aharonov-Bohm interferometer with a single-molecular vibrational junction
• Temperature independent current deficit due to induced quantum nanowire vibrations
• Electron shuttle as an autonomous single-electron source
• Non-equilibrium boundary driven quantum systems: models, methods and properties
• Single electron tunneling with "slow" insulators
• Selective excitations of trasverse vibrational modes of a carbon nanotube through a "shuttle-like" electromechanical instability