%0 Journal Article 
%A Bakkali, Hicham
%A Domínguez de la Vega, Manuel
%T Unveiling single-electron tunneling in nanogranular ultrathin films for sensor applications via hyperspectral conductive AFM
%D 2025
%@ 1873-4979

%U http://hdl.handle.net/10498/36902
%X This study maps the electrical behavior across a 7 × 7 μm2 nanogranular ultrathin Pd-ZrO2 film, revealing nonlinear I-V characteristics indicative of single-electron tunneling. Following the Coulomb blockade power law I ∼ (V − Vt)ξ with a scaling exponent ξ ≈ 1.2, these characteristics appear above the threshold voltage Vt. By modeling the nanogranular structure as a 1D array of multitunnel junctions, we demonstrate a linear relationship between Vt and tunnel channel length, allowing for a better understanding of nanoscale electrical properties and supporting the development of sensitive sensors.
%K Conductive atomic force microscopy
%K Electrical characteristics
%K anogranular ultrathin films
%K Single-electron tunneling
%~ Universidad de Cádiz