Determining the Location and Cause of Unintentional Quantum Dots in a Nanowire

Abstract

We determine the locations of unintentional quantum dots (U-QDs) in a silicon nanowire with a precision of a few nanometers by comparing the capacitances to multiple gates with a capacitance simulation. Because we observe U-QDs in the same location of the wire in multiple devices, their cause is likely to be an unintended consequence of the fabrication, not random atomic-scale defects as is typically assumed. The locations of the U-QDs appear consistent with conduction band modulation from strain from the oxide and the gates. This allows us to suggest methods to reduce the frequency of U-QDs.

References in corpus (5)

• Energy gaps in etched graphene nanoribbons
• Quantum dot behavior in graphene nanoconstrictions
• Pauli-Spin-Blockade Transport through a Silicon Double Quantum Dot
• Gate-defined graphene double quantum dot and excited state spectroscopy
• Enhancement mode double top gated MOS nanostructures with tunable lateral geometry

Cited by in corpus (2)

• Automated extraction of capacitive coupling for quantum dot systems
• Simulating Capacitances to Silicon Quantum Dots: Breakdown of the Parallel Plate Capacitor Model