Charge effect of an isolated Gold Nanoparticle embedded in High-k oxide

The electrical characteristics of a single gold nanoparticle (Au-NP) embedded in high-k oxide on an-type Si (n-Si) substrate has been experimentally investigated. The Au NPs are sandwiched between two layers of amorphous Al2O3 thin film, grown using atomic layer deposition (ALD) method to form both a blocking and tunneling layer for charge confinement. The current-voltage (I-V) measurements were performed using a conductive atomic force microscope (CAFM) with a metal-coated nano-probe placed on a single isolated NP at a time. The results demonstrated the presence of charge confinement in the Au-NP originated from the nano-probe during the voltage sweep. This is evident from the hysteretic behavior of the I-V curve during the increase and decrease of the applied positive voltage on the substrate.