title: The radio-frequency single-electron transistor (RF-SET): A fast and ultrasensitive electrometer
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: 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.
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Schoelkopf
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Wahlgren
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Kozhevnikov
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Delsing
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Prober