Insulator with a gate electrode underneath. Since then, the capacitances of such metal seTs have been reduced to produce very precise charge quantization.

The first semiconductor SET was fabricated accidentally in 1989 by Scott-Thomas in narrow Si field effect transistors. Single Electron Transistor [SET] have been made with critical dimensions of just a few nanometer using metal, semiconductor, carbon nanotubes or individual molecules. A SET consist of a small conducting island [Quantum Dot] coupled to source and drain leads by tunnel junctions and capacitively coupled to one or more gate. Unlike Field Effect transistor, Single electron device is based on an intrinsically quantum phenomenon, the tunnel effect. The electrical behaviour of the tunnel junction depends on how effectively barrier transmits the electron wave, which decreases exponentially with the thickness, which is given by the area of tunnel junction divided by the square of wave length. Quantum dot [QD] is a mesoscopic system in which the addition or removal of a single electron can cause a change in the electrostatic energy or Coulomb energy that is greater than the thermal energy and can control the electron transport into and out of the QD. The nanoparticle is separated from the electrodes by vacuum or insulation layer such as oxide or organic molecules so that only tunneling is allowed between them. So we can model each of the nanoparticles-electrode junctions with a resistor in parallel with capacitor. The resistance is determined by the electron tunneling and the capacitance depends on the size of the particle.

Essential Vocabulary

capacitor конденсатор

capacitance емкостное сопротивление

source electrode электрод истока

tunnel junction туннельный переход

gate capacitance емкость затвора

inject инжектировать, вводить

quantum effect квантовый эффект

integrated circuit интегральная схема

charge quantization квантование заряда

gate electrode управляющий электрод, электрод затвора

gate voltage напряжение управления, затворное напр.

lead вывод

source исток, источник

drain сток

intrinsic собственный

Exercise 1. Answer the following questions:

1. What does single-electron transistor consist of?

2. What is the tunnel junction?

3. What happens when voltage is applied across two electrodes?

4. What enables us to control the motion of a single electron through tunnel junctions?

5. How did the discovery of the transistor change the world?

6. What does the Moor’s law state?

7. What is the function of transistor in today’s digital integrated circuit architecture?

8. When were the effects of charge quantization first observed?

9. When and by whom was the first SET made? Describe its arrangement.

10. Who and when fabricated the first semiconductor SET? Describe it.

Exercise 2. Read and translate the following international words:

Principle, quantum, asymmetrically, locate, tunnel, voltage, media, energy, blockade, effect, phenomenon, microminiaturization, communicate, silicon, technology, dominate, integration, theory, critical, barrier, resistor, model.

Exercise 3. Match each word with its definition:

1. Source a. of or relating to the essential nature of a thing;

inherent.

2. Drain b. a transition region between regions of differing

electrical properties in a semiconductor

3. Junction c. the electrode region in a field-effect transistor

into which majority carriers flow from the

interelectrode conductivity channel

4. Capacitor d. the electrode region in a field-effect transistor

from which majority carriers flow into the

interelectrode conductivity channel

5. Intrinsic e. a device for accumulating electric charge, usually

consisting of two conducting surfaces separated

by a dielectric