RT journal article
T1 Unveiling single-electron tunneling in nanogranular ultrathin films for sensor applications via hyperspectral conductive AFM
A1 Bakkali, Hicham
A1 Domínguez de la Vega, Manuel
A2 Ciencia de los Materiales e Ingeniería Metalúrgica y Química Inorgánica
A2 Física de la Materia Condensada
K1 Conductive atomic force microscopy
K1 Electrical characteristics
K1 anogranular ultrathin films
K1 Single-electron tunneling
AB 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.
PB Elsevier B.V.
SN 1873-4979
YR 2025
FD 2025
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10498/36902
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10498/36902
LA eng
DS Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Cádiz
RD 10-may-2026