On the role of nanoparticle sizes in monoelectron conductivity

Monoelectron conductivity is usually observable in conductive particles with small sizes and/or at very low temperatures. Nanoparticles, grown inside Langmuir-Blodgett films, are useful to observe such kind of phenomena at room temperature. Two barrier system theories have shown the possibility to observe current-voltage curves presenting single electron staircase or negative resistance regions depending on the capacitance of the nanoparticles. Therefore, a deeper understanding of the role of the particle size providing these quite different monoelectron conductivities appears as a very important step for future fabrication of monoelectron junctions using such nanoparticles. Here we propose some calculations, based on a two barrier system, for comparing the nanoparticle sizes with respect to the appearance of monoelectron conductivities.