A graphene quantum dot with a single electron transistor as an integrated charge sensor

A quantum dot (QD) with an integrated charge sensor is becoming a common architecture for a spin or charge based solid state qubit. To implement such a structure in graphene, we have fabricated a twin-dot structure in which the larger dot serves as a single electron transistor (SET) to read out the charge state of the nearby gate controlled small QD. A high SET sensitivity of 10(-3)e/root Hz allowed us to probe Coulomb charging as well as excited state spectra of the QD, even in the regime where the current through the QD is too small to be measured by conventional transport means. (C) 2010 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3533021]