We investigate gate-defined quantum dots in silicon on insulator nanowire
field-effect transistors fabricated using a foundry-compatible fully-depleted
silicon-on-insulator (FD-SOI) process. A series of split gates wrapped over the
silicon nanowire naturally produces a 2Ăn bilinear array of quantum
dots along a single nanowire. We begin by studying the capacitive coupling of
quantum dots within such a 2Ă2 array, and then show how such couplings
can be extended across two parallel silicon nanowires coupled together by
shared, electrically isolated, 'floating' electrodes. With one quantum dot
operating as a single-electron-box sensor, the floating gate serves to enhance
the charge sensitivity range, enabling it to detect charge state transitions in
a separate silicon nanowire. By comparing measurements from multiple devices we
illustrate the impact of the floating gate by quantifying both the charge
sensitivity decay as a function of dot-sensor separation and configuration
within the dual-nanowire structure.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures, 35 cites and supplementar