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Hansjörg Scherer

Single-Electron Circuits for Metrological Applications

The electrostatic repulsion between single electrons manifests itself in ultra-small metallic tunnel contact circuits as a macroscopically observable effect if their Coulomb interaction dominates on the energy scale. The resulting single-charge effects allow a controlled manipulation of single-charge quanta, making possible unique applications in electric metrology. Among the single-electron elements of interest for metrological purposes are the single-electron electrometers, which enable the detection of smallest electrical charges of the order of a fraction of the elementary charge, and the so-called single-electron pump, which enables the clocked transfer of charge quanta through a circuit and thus allows in principle the implementation of a quantum current standard. The combination of these two types of single-charge circuits also enables the implementation of a novel standard for electric capacitance. This article gives a survey of the abovementioned issues and of the progress which has been made in metrological application at PTB.

tm – Technisches Messen, Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag

Print ISSN: 0171-8096
Volume: 72, 04/2005
Pages: 223 - 229

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