Single-electron charging effects in insulating wires

We present measurements of the transport properties of 0.75-long, narrow, insulating indium oxide wires and rings. These devices have no apparent tunnel barriers, yet they exhibit effects similar to those found in series arrays of very small-capacitance tunnel junctions: highly nonlinear I-V characteristics and a zero-bias conductance which is periodic in a voltage applied by means of a lateral gate. These effects are due to the influence of single-electron charging on transport through localized states in the insulating regime. © 1991 The American Physical Society.