An AlGaAs/GaAs Tunnel Diode Integrated with Nanometer-Scale Atomic Force Microscope Tip-Induced Oxides

We have fabricated and investigated the fundamental electron transport properties of a two-terminal tunnel diode, which consisted of a two-dimensional electron gas channel formed at an AlGaAs/GaAs heterojunction by molecular beam epitaxy and nanometer-scale oxides locally generated by using an atomic force microscope (AFM). The AFM-generated oxides were adopted successfully as integral tunnel barriers for electron transport, and single electron transport and Coulomb blockade regimes were observed in a quantum dot tunnel diode structure.