Transport through a single donor in p-type silicon

Single phosphorus donors in silicon are promising candidates as qubits in the solid state. Here, we present low temperature scanning probe microscopy and spectroscopy measurements of individual phosphorus dopants deliberately placed in p-type silicon ?1?nm below the surface. The ability to image individual dopants combined with scanning...

Ultrahigh throughput plasma processing of free standing silicon nanocrystals with lognormal size distribution

We demonstrate a method for synthesizing free standing silicon nanocrystals in an argon/silane gas mixture by using a remote expanding thermal plasma. Transmission electron microscopy and Raman spectroscopy measurements reveal that the distribution has a bimodal shape consisting of two distinct groups of small and large silicon nanocrystals with...

Current-induced nanogap formation and graphitization in boron-doped diamond films

A high-current annealing technique is used to fabricate nanogaps and hybrid diamond/graphite structures in boron-doped nanocrystalline diamond films. Nanometer-sized gaps down to ?1?nm are produced using a feedback-controlled current annealing procedure. The nanogaps are characterized using scanning electron microscopy and electronic transport...

Ultrasmall silicon quantum dots

We report the realization of extremely small single quantum dots in p-type silicon nanowires, defined by Schottky tunnel barriers with Ni and NiSi contacts. Despite their ultrasmall size the NiSi–Si–NiSi nanowire quantum dots readily allow spectroscopy of at least ten consecutive holes, and additionally they display a pronounced excited-state...

Single atom doping for quantum device development in diamond and silicon

The ability to inject dopant atoms with high spatial resolution, flexibility in dopant species, and high single ion detection fidelity opens opportunities for the study of dopant fluctuation effects and the development of devices in which function is based on the manipulation of quantum states in single atoms, such as proposed quantum computers....

Determination of in-depth density profiles of multilayer structures

We developed and demonstrate an analysis method in which we calibrate the intensity scale of cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy (TEM) using Cu K? reflectometry. This results in quantitative in-depth density profiles of multilayer structures. Only three free parameters are needed to obtain the calibrated profiles, corresponding to...

On the effects of implantation temperature in helium implanted silicon

He+ ions were implanted into silicon with a fluence of 5×10 16?cm?2 at different temperatures ranging from 473 to 1073 K. Samples were analyzed by thermal helium desorption spectroscopy and by transmission electron microscopy. As far as cavity formation is concerned, the behavior can be divided into three stages depending on the implantation...

Enhanced tunneling across nanometer-scale metal–semiconductor interfaces

We have measured electrical transport across epitaxial, nanometer-sized metal–semiconductor interfaces by contacting CoSi2 islands grown on Si(111) with the tip of a scanning tunneling microscope. The conductance per unit area was found to increase with decreasing diode area. Indeed, the zero-bias conductance was found to be ? 104 times larger...