Electron tunnel rates in a donor-silicon single electron transistor hybrid

TL;DR

This paper presents a method to measure rapid electron tunnel rates between implanted phosphorus donors and a silicon single electron transistor, using pulsed voltage techniques and a rate equation model for analysis.

Contribution

It introduces a novel pulsed voltage measurement scheme combined with a rate equation model to quantify electron tunnel rates in a donor-SiSET hybrid system.

Findings

Measured fast electron capture and emission rates

Demonstrated sensitivity of SiSET to donor charge states

Quantitative analysis using a rate equation model

Abstract

We investigate a hybrid structure consisting of $20\pm4$ implanted $^{31}$P atoms close to a gate-induced silicon single electron transistor (SiSET). In this configuration, the SiSET is extremely sensitive to the charge state of the nearby centers, turning from the off state to the conducting state when the charge configuration is changed. We present a method to measure fast electron tunnel rates between donors and the SiSET island, using a pulsed voltage scheme and low-bandwidth current detection. The experimental findings are quantitatively discussed using a rate equation model, enabling the extraction of the capture and emission rates.