Negative differential conductance in silicon nanocrystal single-electron devices

The current-voltage I(V) characteristics of metal-insulator-Si quantum dot-insulator-metal (MISiIM) structures are numerically simulated to investigate the dimensioning and the possible applications of single-electron devices taking advantage of the Coulomb blockade phenomenon. These simulations are based on a physical description of the devices and depend only on fundamental parameters of the system. The originality of this work lies in the accurate calculation of tunneling rates including the effect of bias voltage on the wave-functions in the quantum dot. As a main result, we show the appearance of negative differential conductance effects, depending on the design of the structure.