Characterization of All-Chromium Tunnel Junctions and Single Electron Tunneling Devices Fabricated by Direct-Writing Multilayer Technique

We report about the fabrication and analysis of the properties of Cr/CrO_x/Cr tunnel junctions and SET transistors, prepared by different variants of direct-writing multilayer technique. In all cases, the CrO_x tunnel barriers were formed in air under ambient conditions. From the experiments on single junctions, values for the effective barrier height and thickness were derived. For the Cr/CrO_x/Cr SET transistors we achieved minimal junction areas of 17 x 60 nm^2 using a scanning transmission electron microscope for the e-beam exposure on Si_3N_4 membrane substrate. We discuss the electrical performance of the transistor samples as well as their noise behavior.Comment: 19 pages, 9 figure

Correlation between β Relaxation and Self-Diffusion of the Smallest Constituting Atoms in Metallic Glasses

In multicomponent metallic glasses, we demonstrate that diffusion and secondary (β) relaxation are closely related. The diffusion motion of the smallest constituting atoms takes place within the temperature and time regimes where the β relaxations are activated, and, in particular, the two processes have similar activation energies. We suggest cooperative stringlike atomic motion plays an important role in both processes. This finding provides additional insights into the structural origin of the β relaxations as well as the mechanisms of diffusions in metallic glasses

Measurement of the Indentation Modulus and the Local Internal Friction in Amorphous SiO2 Using Atomic Force Acoustic Microscopy

For the past two decades, atomic force acoustic microscopy (AFAM), an advanced scanning probe microscopy technique, has played a promising role in materials characterization with a good lateral resolution at micro/nano dimensions. AFAM is based on inducing out-of-plane vibrations in the specimen, which are generated by an ultrasonic transducer. The vibrations are sensed by the AFM cantilever when its tip is in contact with the material under test. From the cantilver’s contactresonance spectra, one determines the real and the imaginary part of the contact stiffness k*, and then from these two quantities the local indentation modulus M' and the local damping factor Qloc-1 can be obtained with a spatial resolution of less than 10 nm. Here, we present measured data of M' and of Qloc-1 for the insulating amorphous material, a-SiO2. The amorphous SiO2 layer was prepared on a crystalline Si wafer by means of thermal oxidation. There is a spatial distribution of the indentation modulus M' and of the internal friction Qloc-1. This is a consequence of the potential energy landscape for amorphous materials