I nternational J ournal of Engineering Trends and Technology (I J ETT) Volume 4 I ssue 8- August 2013

ISSN: 2231-5381 http://www.ijettjournal.org Page 3701

I-V Characteristics of Single Electron Transistor
Using MATLAB
U. Swetha Sree
M.Tech (VLSI & Embedded Systems), Sree Nidhi Institute of Science & Technology


Abstract Single Electron Transistor (SET) is a key
element of current research area of Nano Technology which
can offer low power consumption and high operating speed.
SETs are often discussed as Nano scaled switching devices
because it retains its scalability on an atomic scale and
could detect and control the motion of individual electron.
The goal of this paper is to review in brief the basic physics
of Single Electron Transistor as well as to simulate
numerically the Current Voltage characteristics in the
SET based on Master equation for the probability
distribution of SET dot obtained from stochastic process
using MATLAB. Also comparison between Field Effect
Transistors (FET) and Single electron Transistor (SET) are
discussed.

I ndex Terms Coulomb Blockade, Orthodox Theory,
Quantum Dot, Single Electron Transistor (SET).

INTRODUCTION

Single Electronics is a technology where an individual
electron is sufficient for defining the logical state instead
of working with millions of electrons as used in todays
technology[7]. More over the development in electronics
to increase the processor speed and memories capacities
needs to minimize the size of transistor. When scaling
trend continues in the field of electronics, fabrication
technologies made novel device possible which provides
great advantages in power dissipation, device density and
switching speeds thus being a potential interest for future
integrated circuits [1]. A Single Electron Transistor is a
specific type of transistor which consists of two
conductors separated by a very thin insulator that is
approximately 1 nanometer thick through which only one
electron can tunnel under certain conditions between the
terminals at time.
Computer Simulations have emerged as a very elegant
way for semiconductor device fabrication and operation
for the design and manufacture of integrated circuits
providing insights into complex phenomena that could
not be obtained through experimentation or simple
analytical models. Simulation programs are serving as
exploratory tools to gain better understanding about the
process and device physics and also after the design
phase to optimize certain parameters in the technology to
improve device performance, reliability, yield etc. In this
paper Single Electron Transistor circuit is simulated
using MATLAB considering the SET device is operated
at room temperature.

I. BASIC PHYSICS OF SET

Single Electron Transistor is a type of switching
device that uses controlled electron tunneling for
amplifying current. Figure 1 shows the schematic
diagram of a SET.


Figure 1: Single Electron Transistor

SET is a three-electrode tunnelling device that consists of
a conductive island with low self-capacitance connected
to source and drain electrodes by low-capacitance and
low conductance tunnel junctions and having a capacitive
coupling with the gate electrode.

A. Coulomb Blockade

Coulomb blockade is defined as the effect of blocking
the electron tunneling through the tunnel junction or a
tunnel system due to the repulsion of the electrons in the
electrode by the Coulomb field of the electron that was
the last to pass the junction. This effect is characterized
by the size of the area with zero tunneling conductances
at the origin of the junction current-voltage characteristic
curve. This area is called the Coulomb blockade voltage
or critical voltage or threshold voltage or just the
Coulomb blockade.
To achieve the Coulomb blockade [2], three criteria have
to be met:
1. The bias voltage must be lower than the elementary
charge divided by the self-capacitance of the
island: V
bias
<

where C =

2. The thermal energy in the source contact plus the
thermal energy in the island, i.e. K
B
T must be below the
charging energy: K
B
T<

or else the electron will be able

to pass the QD via thermal excitation; and
3. The tunnelling resistance, R
t
should be greater
than

which is derived from Heisenberg's uncertainty

principle.


I nternational J ournal of Engineering Trends and Technology (I J ETT) Volume 4 I ssue 8- August 2013
ISSN: 2231-5381 http://www.ijettjournal.org Page 3702


B. Orthodox Theory
The Orthodox Theory will make the following
assumptions [3]:
1. The electron energy quantization inside the conductors
is ignored, i.e., the electron energy spectrum is treated as
continuous.
2. The electron tunnelling time through the barrier is
assumed to be negligibly small in comparison with other
time scales including the interwar, between neighbouring
tunnelling events.
3. Co-Tunnelling i.e., several simultaneous tunnelling
events in a coherent quantum process are ignored.
C. Quantum Dot
Quantum Dot is a semiconductor whose excitations are
confined in all three dimensions. As a result they have
properties that are between bulk semiconductors and
discrete molecules. It is weakly coupled by tunnel
barriers to two electron reservoirs [4].
Advantage of Quantum Dot is that because of the high
level of control possible over the size of crystals
produced, it is possible to have very precise control over
the conductive properties of the material.
II. BASIC EQUATIONS FOR MASTER EQUATION BASED
SIMULATION
The SET circuit consisting of a Quantum Dot between
the source and drain electrodes separated by tunnel
capacitors C
1
and C
2
is shown in figure 2. The tunnel
capacitors both C
1
and C
2
have tunnel resistances R
1
and
R
2
, respectively. The dot is also coupled to the gate
electrode with capacitor C
G
in order to control the current
flow.


Figure 2: Single electron transistor with a dot structure

There are four main equations for current-voltage
characteristics of single electron circuits
1. Free energy change F
2. Tunnelling probability/rate
3. Steady state master equation and
4. Current equation I.

A. Free energy change

The energy that determines the transport of electrons
through a single electron device is Helmholtz Free
Energy, F, which is defined as difference between total
energy stored in the device and work done by power
sources.

( )

) (

}
(1a)

( )

}
(1b)

B. Tunneling probability/rate

When electron tunnels through an insulating barrier, i.e.,
from an initial state to the final state the tunnelling Rate
could be calculated using Fermis Golden Rule[5].

()

(2a)

()

(2b)

C. Steady State Master Equation

Steady state approximation is applied to improve the
efficiency and the numerical robustness of the master
equation calculations. The probability of the electron
tunnelling is calculated.
()

()

() ( )

( )

( ) (3)

D. Current equation

The multiplication of the probability and the difference
between and the difference between the rates describes
the net current flowing through the junction.

() ()

()

()

()

()

()

(4)

where e is the elemental charge, K
B
is the Boltzmann
constant, T is the temperature, N is the number of
electrons in the dot, n
1
and n
2
are a number of electrons
flows through the capacitor C
1
and capacitor C
2
,
respectively, Q
0
is the background charge and +/- express
that the electron tunnels through the capacitor with the
direction from left to the right and from right to the left,
respectively.

III.MASTER EQUATIONS

The numerical simulation steps to calculate the
Current Voltage curve based on Master Equation method
[] is shown as a flow chart in figure 3. First, the values of
the physical constants (Boltzmann constant and
elemental charge) and device parameters (C
1
, C
2
, C
G
, R
1

and R
2
) are defined. Then, the external parameters (V,
V
G
, Q
0
and T) are given. Next, the free energy change of
the system F when the electron tunnels across the
I nternational J ournal of Engineering Trends and Technology (I J ETT) Volume 4 I ssue 8- August 2013
ISSN: 2231-5381 http://www.ijettjournal.org Page 3703

tunnel capacitance, is calculated. The F depends on the
number of excess electrons N in the dot


Using the values of F, single electron tunnelling rates
across each of two junctions is determined. Each rate
depends on both the tunnelling resistance of the junction
and the total energy change of the system due to the
tunnelling event. For single electron transistor circuit
simulation, each electron tunnelling has to be carefully
monitored. The electron tunnelling rate, which is
represented by , can be easily obtained from the basic
golden-rule calculation,
Next, a stochastic process in SET circuit is considered.
The island charge e will change by the tunnelling of
electrons from or to the island as described by the master
equation.

()

( )

( )

( )
()

()

() (5)

Here, the dc characteristics is investigated, therefore the
steady state solution of equation (5) is desired. The
steady state master equation is found by setting the time
derivative of the probability distribution function equal to
zero. Therefore, equation (5) becomes

()

()

() ( )

( )

( ) (6)

In this condition, it is necessary to calculate (N) for all
of possible charge state N. By inserting N from to
into equation (6), the following equations are obtained.
()

()

()
( )

( )

( )
()

()

() ()

()

()
()

()

() ()

()

()
()

()

() ()

()

()
()

()

() ( )

( )

( )
( )

( )

( ) ()

()

() (7)
To solve equations above, the (N) must satisfy the
standard boundary conditions, i.e.
() (8)
Using this condition, all of the (N) can be found.
However, the (N) here is not normalized, so that
requires the normalization as follows:
()

(9a)
For this, the following transformation is need.
()
()
()

(9b)
Finally, the current can be calculated by,
()
()

()

()

(10a)
Here, the multiplication of the probability and the
difference of rate

()

() describe the net

current flowing through the first junction. In addition, the
current may also express in the terms of the rates at
second junction, as follows.
()
()

()

()

(10b)


Figure 3: Flow diagram of the Matlab program used to solve Master
equation.

IV. CODING FOR I-V CHARACTERISTICS OF SET

% Matlab program source for numerical simulation of
Master equation of Single Electron Transistor
clc;
close all;
clear all;
% Definition of Physical constant
q=1.602e-19; % electronic charge (C)
kb=1.381e-23; % Boltzmann constant (J/K)
% Definition of Device parameters
c1=1.0e-20; % tunnel capacitor C1 (F)
c2=2.1e-19; % tunnel capacitor C2 (F)
cg=1.0e-18; % gate capacitor Cg (F)
ctotal=c1+c2+cg; % total capacitance (F)
mega=1000000; % definition of mega=10^6
r1=15*mega; % tunnel resistance R1 (Ohm)
r2=250*mega; % tunnel resistance R2 (Ohm)
Vg=0; % gate voltage (V)
q0=0; % background charge q0 is assumed to be zero
temp=10; % temperature T (K)
vmin=-0.5;
% drain voltage minimum Vmin (V)
vmax=0.5;
% drain voltage maximum Vmax (V)
NV=1000;
% number of grid from Vmin to Vmax
dV=(vmax-vmin)/NV;
% drain voltage increment of each grid point
for iv=1:NV
V(iv)=vmin+iv*dV;
% drain voltage in each grid point
Nmin=-20; % minimum number of N
Nmax=20; % maximum number of N
for ne=1:Nmax-Nmin
n=Nmin+ne; % N charge number in dot
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% Calculation of F
dF1p=q/ctotal*(0.5*q+(n*q-q0)-(c2+cg)*V(iv)+cg*Vg);
dF1n=q/ctotal*(0.5*q-(n*q-q0)+(c2+cg)*V(iv)-cg*Vg);
dF2p=q/ctotal*(0.5*q-(n*q-q0)-c1*V(iv)-cg*Vg);
dF2n=q/ctotal*(0.5*q+(n*q-q0)+c1*V(iv)+cg*Vg);
if dF1p<0
T1p(ne)=1/(r1*q*q)*(-dF1p)/(1-exp(dF1p/(kb*temp)));
else
T1p(ne)=1e-1;
end
if dF1n<0
T1n(ne)=1/(r1*q*q)*(-dF1n)/(1-exp(dF1n/(kb*temp)));
else
T1n(ne)=1e-1;
end
if dF2p<0
T2p(ne)=1/(r2*q*q)*(-dF2p)/(1-exp(dF2p/(kb*temp)));
else
T2p(ne)=1e-1;
end
if dF2n<0
T2n(ne)=1/(r2*q*q)*(-dF2n)/(1-exp(dF2n/(kb*temp)));
else
T2n(ne)=1e-1;
end
end
p(1)=0.001;
% (Nmin) is assumed to be 0.01
p(Nmax-Nmin)=0.001;
% (Nmax) is assumed to be 0.01
sum=0;
% sum=0 is initial value to calculate
for ne=2:Nmax-Nmin
% calculation of (N)
p(ne)=p(ne-1)*(T2n(ne-1)+T1p(ne-
1))/(T2p(ne)+T1n(ne));
% the conditions below are used to avoid divergence of
Matlab Calculation
if p(ne)>1e250
p(ne)=1e250;
end
if p(ne)<1e-250
p(ne)=1e-250;
end
sum=sum+p(ne);
end
for ne=2:Nmax-Nmin
p(ne)=p(ne)/sum;
% Normalization in equation
end
sumI=0;
% sumI=0 is initial condition for current calculation
for ne=2:Nmax-Nmin
sumI=sumI+p(ne)*(T2p(ne)-T2n(ne));
end
I(iv)=q*sumI; % I in equation
end % end of drain voltage loop
figure;
plot(V,I); % plot of I vs V
xlabel('drain voltage V(mV)');
ylabel('dI/dv');
title(' The current drain voltage characteristics for SET');
grid on;
for iv=1:NV-1
dIdV(iv)=(I(iv+1)-I(iv))/dV;
% calculation of dIdV
end
figure;
plot(V(1,1:NV-1),dIdV);
% plot of dIdV vs V
xlabel('drain voltage V(mV)');
ylabel('current I(nA)');
title(' dI/dV curve with device parameters');
grid on;


Figure 4: The Current Drain Voltage Characteristics of SET


Figure 5: dI/dV curve with device parameters

V. COMPARISON OF FET AND SET

COMPARISON BETWEEN FET AND SET
Sr.
No
Field Effect
Transistor
Single Electron
Transistor
1.

2.



3.






4.





It has P-N junction

It has a Channel



Numbers of electrons
are transferred through
the channel at a time
thus producing drain
current.


The drain current
depends on the number
of electron passes
through the channel
therefore more number
of electrons in the
It has Tunnel Junction

It has a small
conducting island (i.e.)
Quantum Dot

The electrons are
tunneled one by one
through the island
from source to drain
due to the effect of
coulomb blockade.

The drain current does
not depend upon the
number of electrons
tunneling or on the
Fermi velocity but
depends on the specific
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ISSN: 2231-5381 http://www.ijettjournal.org Page 3705




5.
channel the larger drain
current is obtained.

Based on the input
voltage it allows a
prcised amount of
current to flow.
gate voltages.


Uses controlled
electron tunneling to
amplify current or
switch the state.
Table 1 Comparison of FET and SET

VI. Conclusion
This paper has presented a numerical simulation of the
single electron transistor using Matlab. This simulation is
based on the Master equation method and is useful for
both educational and research purposes, especially for
beginners in the field of single electron devices.
Simulated results produce the staircase behaviour in the
current-drain voltage characteristics. These results
reproduce the previous studies of the SET, indicating that
the simulation technique achieves good accuracy.

References:

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Transistor Logic, Appl. Phys.Lett., Vol. 68, No. 14, April 1996, pp.
1954 1956.
[2] Tucker, J.R. (1992). Complementary digital logic based on the
"Coulomb blockade", J. Appl. Phys., 72 (9), pp. 4399-4413.
[3] R.H. Chen, A.N. Korotkov, K.K. Likharev: Single- Electron
Transistor Logic, Appl. Phys.Lett., Vol. 68, No. 14, April 1996, pp.
1954 1956.
[4] R.H. Chen, A.N. Korotkov, K.K. Likharev: Single- Electron
Transistor Logic, Appl. Phys.Lett., Vol. 68, No. 14, April 1996, pp.
1954 1956.
[5] C. W. J. Beenakker, H. van Houten and A. A. M. Staring, in Single
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[6] Arfken, G. B. and Weber, H. J. Mathematical Methods for
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[7] George W. Hanson, Fundamentals of Nanoelectronics, Pearson,
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