Single-electron shuttle based on a silicon quantum dot

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We report on single-electron shuttling experiments with a silicon metal-oxide-semiconductor quantum dot at 300 mK. Our system consists of an accumulated electron layer at the Si/SiO₂ interface below an aluminum top gate with two additional barrier gates used to deplete the electron gas locally and to define a quantum dot. Directional single-electron shuttling from the source and to the drain lead is achieved by applying a dc source-drain bias while driving the barrier gates with an ac voltage of frequency fₚ. Current plateaus at integer levels of efₚ are observed up to fₚ = 240 MHz operation frequencies. The observed results are explained by a sequential tunneling model which suggests that the electron gas may be heated substantially by the ac driving voltage.