Imaging asymmetric Coulomb blockade phenomena across metallic nanoislands
Phys. Rev. B 113, 165414 – Published 15 April, 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/ft3t-cy3k
Abstract
A Coulomb blockade (CB) arises in nanoscale systems with ultrasmall capacitance, where discrete charging effects dictate electron transport, enabling wide-ranging applications based on single-electron transistors. Despite established electrostatic control of charge states in quantum dots and nanoislands, a rigorous quantitative link between junction parameters and the CB spectrum remains elusive. Here, using scanning tunneling spectroscopy, we investigate the spatial variation of CB in indium nanoislands on semiconducting black phosphorus. We observe spatially dispersive charging resonances whose trajectories exhibit a finite shift of the symmetry axis in bias as well as a pronounced asymmetric curvature. By comparing the experimental results with calculations based on orthodox theory, we show that these features originate from work function differences in the junctions, underscoring the importance of junction-specific electrostatics in nanoscale charge transport.
