Title: Contact-independent electrical conductance measurement

Abstract

Electrical conductance measurement system including a one-dimensional semiconducting channel, with electrical conductance sensitive to electrostatic fluctuations, in a circuit for measuring channel electrical current. An electrically-conductive element is disposed at a location at which the element is capacitively coupled to the channel; a midpoint of the element aligned with about a midpoint of the channel, and connected to first and second electrically-conductive contact pads that are together in a circuit connected to apply a changing voltage across the element. The electrically-conductive contact pads are laterally spaced from the midpoint of the element by a distance of at least about three times a screening length of the element, given in SI units as (K.di-elect cons..sub.0/e.sup.2D(E.sub.F)).sup.1/2, where K is the static dielectric constant, .di-elect cons..sub.0 is the permittivity of free space, e is electron charge, and D(E.sub.F) is the density of states at the Fermi energy for the element.

Inventors:

Mentzel, Tamar S.; MacLean, Kenneth; Kastner, Marc A.; Ray, Nirat

Publication Date:

Tue Jan 24 00:00:00 EST 2017

Research Org.:

Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States)

Sponsoring Org.:

USDOE

OSTI Identifier:

1340576

Patent Number(s):

9,551,736

Application Number:

13/570,556

Assignee:

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambridge, MA)

DOE Contract Number:  

FG02-08ER46515

Resource Type:

Patent

Resource Relation:

Patent File Date: 2012 Aug 09

Country of Publication:

United States

Language:

English

Subject:

42 ENGINEERING; 71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSICS