The radio-frequency single-electron transistor (RF-SET): A fast and ultrasensitive electrometer
A new type of electrometer is described that uses a single-electron transistor (SET) and that allows large operating speeds and extremely high charge sensitivity. The SET readout was accomplished by measuring the damping of a 1.7-gigahertz resonant circuit in which the device is embedded, and in some ways is the electrostatic "dual" of the well-known radio-frequency superconducting quantum interference device. The device is more than two orders of magnitude faster than previous single-electron devices, with a constant gain from dc to greater than 100 megahertz. For a still-unoptimized device, a charge sensitivity of 1.2 x 10(-5) e/hertz was obtained at a frequency of 1.1 megahertz, which is about an order of magnitude better than a typical, 1/f-noise-limited SET, and corresponds to an energy sensitivity (in joules per hertz) of about 41 Planck's over 2pi.
Schoelkopf
RJ
R. J. Schoelkopf, A. A. Kozhevnikov, D. E. Prober, Departments of Applied Physics and Physics, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520-8284, USA. P. Wahlgren and P. Delsing, Department of Microelectronics and Nanoscience, Chalmers Uni.
Wahlgren
P
Kozhevnikov
AA
Delsing
P
Prober
DE