Single Electron Transistor | Electronics Seminar Topic
Single Electron Transistor
Single electron transistor (SET) is a novel idea and has
been intensively studied. This review gives a general picture of SET, such as
its mechanism, fabrication, application and problems faced.
During 1980s, the main discoveries in mesoscopic physics are
the tunneling of single electron and Coulomb blockade phenomena, which make
many scientists predict that if the size of the quantum dots is reduced to
several nanometers, it is highly possible to produce applicable single electron
transistor (SET) which works above liquid nitrogen temperature, and this will
bring a revolution to electronic science. Since then SET has been a hot
research area. The breakthrough of nanotech as well as its successful
combination with semiconductor technologies gives hope to SET, and some think
that it will be a mature technique in the coming decade.
A conventional field-effect transistor, the kind that makes
all modern electronics work, is a switch that turns on when electrons are added
to a semiconductor and turns off when they are removed. These on and off states
give the ones and zeros that digital computers need for calculation. One then
has a transistor that turns on and off again every time one electron is added
to it; we call it a single electron transistor (SET). Furthermore, the behavior
of the device is entirely quantum mechanical.
Electron transport properties of individual molecules have
received considerable attention over the last several years due to the
introduction of single-electron transistor (SET) devices which allow the
experimenter to probe electronic, vibrational or magnetic excitations in an
individual molecule.
In a three-terminal molecular SET the molecule is situated
between the source and drain leads with an insulated gate electrode underneath.
Current can flow between the source and drain leads via a sequential tunneling process
through the molecular charge levels, which the gate electrode is used to tune.
