Blockade Basic Theory and Historical Sketch

Coulomb Blockade Basic Theory and Historical Sketch 

The Coulomb blockade effect was originally observed in experiments on small metallic or superconducting particles [138-141], in which nanometer-sized metallic grains were embedded within a metal oxide-metal tunnel junction. Electronic measurements performed on these systems at low temperatures (T 1 K) revealed an anomalous behavior of the resistance (or differential capacitance) at zero bias. It was realized that this behavior was caused by the extremely small capacitance of the metallic particles. In a simple model, a spherical particle of diameter d embedded in a 

Solving for R yields as a condition for the resistance R which just means that R should be on the order of the resistance quantum.  

Many years after the initial experiments, the Coulomb blockade effect was observed for the first time in a Uthographically defined metalUc structure [142]. In contrast to the earlier experiments, the effect could now be observed for a single metallic island rather than averaged over a large population of nanopartides. Shortly afterwards. Coulomb blockade was also observed in a semiconductor microstructure [143]. The use of Uthographic techniques facilitates the realization of well-defined three-terminal geometries. In such a geometry, in addition to the source and 

4) h/i is the resistance quantum it is equal to the resistance of a single nondegenerate conduction mode of a 1-D conducting channel connecting two large reservoirs. 

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