Reservoir Network Based on Single Impurity Atoms in Silicon

This study is aimed at solving the problem of experimental implementation and investigation of single-electron reservoir networks with As impurity atoms in a quasi-two-dimensional near-surface layer of a solid-state matrix based on silicon-on-insulator (SOI) material. The study of electron transport in the fabricated experimental structures revealed the presence of horizontal Coulomb blockade sections in the current–voltage characteristics (CVC) typical of single-electron transport. The shape of the recorded CVC between a pair of selected control electrodes of the reservoir network significantly depended on the potentials of the remaining surrounding electrodes, which modified the structure of the conductive channels passing through the impurity centers. By adjusting the control voltages and utilizing the intrinsic nonlinearity of the system of disordered single As impurity atoms, which possesses an enormous state space, it was possible to demonstrate the feasibility of implementing a tunable nanoscale current switch and the logical functions ‘‘NOT,’’ ‘‘AND,’’ and ‘‘OR’’ in the single-electron reservoir network. A vector tuning method was employed to determine the required configuration of the reservoir network for the implementation of functional elements.