Control of single-electron charging of metallic nanoparticles onto amorphous silicon surface

J Nanosci Nanotechnol. 2008 Nov;8(11):5684-9. doi: 10.1166/jnn.2008.214.

Abstract

Sequential single-electron charging of iron oxide nanoparticles encapsulated in oleic acid/oleyl amine envelope and deposited by the Langmuir-Blodgett technique onto Pt electrode covered with undoped hydrogenated amorphous silicon film is reported. Single-electron charging (so-called quantized double-layer charging) of nanoparticles is detected by cyclic voltammetry as current peaks and the charging effect can be switched on/off by the electric field in the surface region induced by the excess of negative/positive charged defect states in the amorphous silicon layer. The particular charge states in amorphous silicon are created by the simultaneous application of a suitable bias voltage and illumination before the measurement. The influence of charged states on the electric field in the surface region is evaluated by the finite element method. The single-electron charging is analyzed by the standard quantized double layer model as well as two weak-link junctions model. Both approaches are in accordance with experiment and confirm single-electron charging by tunnelling process at room temperature. This experiment illustrates the possibility of the creation of a voltage-controlled capacitor for nanotechnology.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adsorption
  • Crystallization / methods*
  • Electric Conductivity
  • Electrochemistry / methods*
  • Electrons
  • Macromolecular Substances / chemistry
  • Materials Testing
  • Membranes, Artificial
  • Molecular Conformation
  • Nanostructures / chemistry*
  • Nanostructures / ultrastructure*
  • Nanotechnology / methods*
  • Particle Size
  • Platinum / chemistry*
  • Silicon / chemistry*
  • Surface Properties

Substances

  • Macromolecular Substances
  • Membranes, Artificial
  • Platinum
  • Silicon