Single-electron shuttle based on a silicon quantum dot

We report on single-electron shuttling experiments with a silicon metal-oxide-semiconductor quantum dot at 300 mK. Our system consists of an accumulated electron layer at the Si/SiO2 interface below an aluminum top gate with two additional barrier gates used to deplete the electron gas locally and to define a quantum dot. Directional single-electron shuttling from the source to the drain lead is achieved by applying a dc source-drain bias while driving the barrier gates with an ac voltage of frequency f(p). Current plateaus at integer levels of ef(p) are observed up to f(p) = 240 MHz operation frequencies. The observed results are explained by a sequential tunneling model, which suggests that the electron gas may be heated substantially by the ac driving voltage. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi: 10.1063/1.3593491]