Fabrication and electrical properties of a carbon nanotube quantum dot

Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) were synthesized by pyrolyzing methane (CH₄) at a temperature of 900°C on SiO₂ substrates pre-coated with iron nano-particles. Electrical contacts were fabricated onto one of the SWNTs by using an electron beam lithography process. Coulomb blockade and single-electron tunnelling characters were found at low temperatures, indicating that the SWNT in-between the electrodes forms a quantum dot. It is found that the Coulomb gap of the quantum dot is about 8.57 meV and the factor α, which converts the gate voltage to the true electrostatic potential shift, is around 200 for this device.