Combined atomic force microscope and electron-beam lithography used for the fabrication of variable-coupling quantum dots

We have combined direct nanofabrication by local anodic oxidation with conventional electron-beam lithography to produce a parallel double quantum dot based on a GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructure. The combination of both nanolithography methods allows fabrication of robust in-plane gates and Cr/Au top-gate electrodes on the same device for optimal controllability. This is illustrated by the tunability of the interdot coupling in our device. We describe our fabrication and alignment scheme in detail and demonstrate the tunability in low-temperature transport measurements. (C) 2003 American Institute of Physics.