We report a novel technique for the fabrication of planar-type Ni-based single-electron transistors (SETs) using electromigration method induced by field emission current. The method is so-called "activation" and is demonstrated using arrow-shaped Ni nanogap electrodes with initial gap separations of 21-68 nm. Using the activation method, we are easily able to obtain the SETs by Fowler-Nordheim (F-N) field emission current passing through the nanogap electrodes. The F-N field emission current plays an important role in triggering the migration of Ni atoms. The nanogap is narrowed because of the transfer of Ni atoms from source to drain electrode. In the activation procedure, we defined the magnitude of a preset current Is and monitored the current I between the nanogap electrodes by applying voltage V. When the current I reached a preset current Is, we stopped the voltage V. As a result, the tunnel resistance of the nanogaps was decreased from the order of 100 T(omega) to 100 k(omega) with increasing the preset current Is from 1 nA to 150 microA. Especially, the devices formed by the activation with the preset current from 100 nA to 1.5 microA exhibited Coulomb blockade phenomena at room temperature. Coulomb blockade voltage of the devices was clearly modulated by the gate voltage quasi-periodically, resulting in the formation of multiple tunnel junctions of the SETs at room temperature. By increasing the preset current from 100 nA to 1.5 microA in the activation scheme, the charging energy of the SETs at room temperature was decreased, ranging from 1030 meV to 320 meV. Therefore, it is found that the charging energy and the number of islands of the SETs are controllable by the preset current during the activation. These results clearly imply that the activation procedure allows us to easily and simply fabricate planar-type Ni-based SETs operating at room temperature.

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A novel technique for the integration of planar-type single-electron transistors (SETs) composed of nanogaps is presented. This technique is based on the electromigration procedure, which is caused by a field emission current. The technique is called "activation." By applying the activation to the nanogaps, SETs can be easily obtained. Furthermore, the charging energy of the SETs can be controlled by adjusting the magnitude of the applied current during the activation process. The integration of two SETs was achieved by passing a field emission current through two series-connected initial nanogaps. The current-voltage (I(D)-V(D)) curves of the simultaneously activated devices exhibited clear electrical-current suppression at a low-bias voltage at 16 K, which is known as the Coulomb blockade. The Coulomb blockade voltage of each device was also obviously modulated by the gate voltage. In addition, the two SETs, which were integrated by the activation procedure, exhibited similar electrical properties, and their charging energy decreased uniformly with increasing the preset current during the activation. These results indicate that the activation procedure allows the simple and easy integration of planar-type SETs.

Planar-type Ni/vacuum/Ni tunnel junctions based on ferromagnetic nanogaps were fabricated by field-emission-induced electromigration in an approach that we call “activation.” In the activation method, we were simply and easily able to control the tunnel resistance of the nanogaps from 1.6 MΩ to 169 kΩ by adjusting only the magnitude of the field emission current. The resistance of the junction formed by the activation was varied by applying external magnetic fields, and the magnetoresistance (MR) ratio was approximately 12.2% at 16 K with a bias voltage of 0.72 mV. Furthermore, after the bias voltage was increased from 0.72 to 7.3 mV, the MR ratio decreased from 12.2% to 6.2%. When the applied bias voltage was fixed at 1.6 mV, the MR ratio was decreased from 11.6% to 1.2% by increasing the measurement temperature from 16 to 270 K. These results imply that it is possible to easily fabricate planar-type Ni/vacuum/Ni ferromagnetic tunnel junctions via activation.