Room temperature tunneling characteristics of ultra-small normal junctions

This paper reports on tunneling studies between a Scanning tunneling Microscope (STM)-controlled fine NbN tip and a NbN thin film that shows single electron tunneling characteristics at room temperature. The I-V curves display the Coulomb blockade and the Coulomb staircase caused by single electron charging of a series combination of two tunnel junctions. These room temperature observations indicate that it may be possible to operate single-electron-based devices in non-cryogenic regimes