SINGLE ELECTRON TRANSISTORS

J.VYSHNAVI
III/IV B.Tech (ECE) RVR&JC College of engineering
Email:[email protected]

K.VINEELA
III/IV B.Tech (ECE) RVR&JC College of engineering
Email:[email protected]

ABSTRACT Modern techniques of lithography makes it possible to confine electrons to sufficiently small dimensions that the quantisation of both their charge and their energy are easily observable. When such confined electrons are allowed to tunnel to metallicle ads a single electron transistor(SET) is created. This transistor turns on and off again every time one electron is added to the isolated region. Whereas we can understand conventional transistors using classical concepts, the SET is a quantum mechanical in an essential way. In fact , there is a close analogy between the confined electrons inside the SET and an atom. In this review, the physics underlying the operation of SETs is explained, a brief history of its invention is presented, and issues of current interest are discussed.

electronic,vibrational or magnetic, excitations in an individual molecule. The structure of a SET is shown in figure. The device consists of two tunnel junctions characterized by a junction capacitance C, a tunneling resistance R. The two junctions are separated by an island which is coupled to a gate bias, while a source-drain bias is applied across the tunnel junctions as shown

1.Principle of the SET

A SET can be visualized as having a double barrier potential. The double junction is a circuit consisting of two tunnel junctions in series, which form an island between them. The junctions are based with a source voltage connected between the source and drain. For every small bias no current flows as the electrons do not have enough energy to overcome the barrier. We initially assume that no bias voltage is applied to gate terminal. Increasing the source to drain bias voltage steadily, at some point it becomes possible for an electron to tunnel through the first junction. This electron enters the island thus increasing the energy level of the island from Ne to (N+1)e. This in turn forces an extra electron to exit from the island through

Introduction
Electron transistor properties of individual molecules have received considerable attention over the last several years due to the introduction of single-electron transistor (SET) devices14,which allow the experimenter to probe

the second barrier, thus returning the island to its earlier energy state Ne. Since the source to drain bias voltage has not changed, another electron enters the island through the first junction resulting in a study current through double junction.

with one excess electron decreases gradually. At the gate voltage corresponding to the point of maximum slope on the coulomb staircase, both of these configurations equally qualify as the lowest energy states of the system. This lifts the coulomb blockade, allowing the electrons to tunnel into and out of the island. We find that the coulomb blockade is lifted when the gate electron is charged with exactly minus half an electron, which is not as surprising as it may seem. The island is surrounded by insulators, which means that the charge on it, must be quantized in units of e, but the metallic gate is a supplier of plentiful of electrons. The charge on the gate capacitor merely represents a displacement of

If we make the second tunnel junction barrier higher than the first barrier, then certain number of electrons will have to be accumulated on the island before any electron can tunnel through to the drain. This phenomenon of blocking an electron from immediately leaving the island is called coulomb blockade. The source to drain voltage increase necessary to overcome the coulomb blockade is called coulomb gap voltage. As we increase the drain source voltage, due to quantization of the electronic charge an increase in current occurs only at increments of the coulomb gap voltage as depicted by conductance graph of the figure. Hence the waveform looks like staircase called coulomb staircase. Suppose, we keep the drain source voltage below the coulomb gap voltage, if the gate voltage is increased that increases the initial energy of the system, while the energy of the island

positive ions. If we further increase the gate voltage so that the gate capacitor becomes charged with-e, the island again has only one stable configuration separated from the next lowest energy states by coulomb energy. The coulomb blockade is set up again, but the island now contains an excess electron. The conductance of the SET therefore oscillates between minima for gate chargers that are multiples of e and maxima for half integer multiples of e.

We have device that switches between conducting and non conducting stages by the gate terminal. Hence it can be used for building logic circuits similar to CMOS circuits.

2.I-V characteristics of SET

In the previous subsection we dealt with the operating principles of the SET without any mathematical analysis. Now we will deal with the actual physics of the SET and the equations that describe the complete operation of the device. Consider the double junction system shown in figure. The parameters shown are characterizing values of both junctions shown in circuit. Assume initially that C1<<C2 and R1<<R2 so that the tunneling rate through the first junction is far greater than the second. Set the external source to drain bias voltage V so that the charge flow from left to right is preferred, and increase the bias voltage above the coulomb gap voltage.

Q due to external voltages coupled to electrode via gate capacitance. For given external voltage V, electrons will tunnel onto the central electrode until V1 becomes smaller than e/(C1+C2), at which point the junction becomes coulomb blockaded. Because of the tunneling rate assumptions above, the blockaded condition is always reached before we need to consider charge tunneling out through C2. Since tunneling rate through limits and governs the current through device and since V2 is pinned by blockaded condition of junction I, current through the device remains constant for a range of external V. In order to raise the number of electrons on the central electrode by 1, V1 must be raised by V=e/(C1+C2)=C2/(C1+C2) V => V=e/C2----------(4) Which in turn allows a current increase I= V/R2=e/R2(C1+C2)---------(5)

The governing equations are V1=(C2/C1+C2)V-(ne+ Q/C1+C2)---------(2) V2=(C1/C1+C2)V+(ne+ Q/C1+C2)---------(3) Where (ne+ Q) is the charge on the central electrode. This is the result of n electrons on the electrode due to tunneling events and an initial charge

Thus, the I-V curve of such a device shows distinct steps of width V and height I. As the junction parameters are brought nearer,C1~C2 and R1~R2, the tunneling rates through the two junctions become comparable, blockade conditions are less likely to build up and characteristics are linear.

3.Conductance of SET

Consider the schematic of the SET shown in figure. Let the external bias applied to the source drain be zero(V~0). The capacitive energy of the central electrode is E=(ne+ Q)^2/2(C1+C2)-------(6) Where n is the net number of electronic charges that have tunneled through the first junction and Q is a fractional charge due to gate electrode. If we plot the electrostatic energy of the central electrode as a function of n we expect the curve to be a parabola. The curves of two limiting value of Q are shown in

has a step on the coulomb staircase. The steps are placed at the coulomb gap voltage at the gate terminal.

4.Conclusion
Researchers may some day assemble these transistors into molecular versions of silicon chips, but there are still formidable hurdles to cross.SETs could be used for memory device,but even the latest SETs suffer from offset charges which means the gate voltage needed to achieve maximum current varies randomly from device to device. Such fluctuations make it impossible to build complex circuits. The future thus look bright for these devices.

References
figure. Note that due to the discrete nature of tunneling only those energies with thw solid dots are allowable. The tunneling activation is defined as the energy required to add another electron to the island. It is given by E=E(n+1)-E(n) When Q=0, we have E=e^2/2(C1+C2) Which is the coulomb blockade energy. This is the normal condition that we have seen already. Now for Q=-Q/2, the activation energy is reduced to 0 andboth energy states E(n+1) and E(n) are degenerate. Hence the charge transfer can occur freely and the conductance has apeak at this value of charge. We must note that this particular point of increased conductance is precisely the point where the I-V curve C. Romeike, M. R. Wegewijs, W. Hofstetter, and H. Schoeller, Phys. Rev. Lett. 96, 196601 M. N. Leuenberger and E. R. Mucciolo, Phys. Rev. Lett. 97, 126601 (2006) C. Romeike, M. R. Wegewijs, and H. Schoeller, Phys. Rev. Lett. 96, 196805 (2006).