September 21, 2001
We investigate the intrinsic noise of a micro-mechanical displacement detector based on the radio-frequency single-electron transistor (rf-SET). Using the noise analysis of a SET by Korotkov as our starting point, we determine the spectral density of the displacement noise due to the tunneling current shot noise. The resulting mechanical displacement noise decreases in inverse proportion to the increasing gate voltage. In contrast, the displacement noise due to the fluctuating SET island charge increases approximately linearly with increasing gate voltage. Taking into account both of these noise sources results in an optimum gate voltage value for the lowest displacement noise and hence best sensitivity. We show that a displacement sensitivity of about 10^-4 Angstroms and a force sensitivity of about 10^-16 N are predicted for a micron-sized cantilever with a realizable resonant frequency 100 MHz and quality factor Q~10^4. Such sensitivities would allow the detection of quantum squeezing in the mechanical motion of the micro-mechanical cantilever and the detection of single-spin magnetic resonance in magnetic resonance force microscopy (MRFM).
Similar papers 1
September 19, 2000
We investigate the tunneling shot noise limits on the sensitivity of a micromechanical displacement detector based on a metal junction, radio-frequency single-electron transistor (rf-SET). In contrast with the charge sensitivity of the rf-SET electrometer, the displacement sensitivity improves with increasing gate voltage bias and, with a suitably optimized rf-SET, displacement sensitivities of $10^{-6} {\rm\AA}/\sqrt{\rm Hz}$ may be possible.
June 18, 2003
We consider a model of a quantum-mechanical resonator capacitively coupled to a single electron transistor (SET). The tunnel current in the SET is modulated by the vibrations of the resonator, and thus the system operates as a displacement detector. We analyze the effect of the back-action noise of charge fluctuations in the SET onto the dynamics of the resonator and evaluate the displacement sensitivity of the system. The relation between the "classical" and "quantum" parts ...
October 8, 2002
Single electron transistors (SETs) are very sensitive electrometers and they can be used in a range of applications. In this paper we give an introduction to the SET and present a full quantum mechanical calculation of how noise is generated in the SET over the full frequency range, including a new formula for the quantum current noise. The calculation agrees well with the shot noise result in the low frequency limit, and with the Nyquist noise in the high frequency limit. We...
September 22, 2004
Telegraph noise, which originates from the switching of charge between meta-stable trapping sites, becomes increasingly important as device sizes approach the nano-scale. For charge-based quantum computing, this noise may lead to decoherence and loss of read out fidelity. Here we use a radio frequency single electron transistor (rf-SET) to probe the telegraph noise present in a typical semiconductor-based quantum computer architecture. We frequently observe micro-second teleg...
January 25, 2004
We consider a single-electron transistor (SET) whose central island is a nanomechanical oscillator. The gate capacitance of the SET depends on the mechanical displacement, thus, the vibrations of the island vibrations may strongly influence the current-voltage characteristics, current noise, and higher cumulants of the current. Harmonic oscillations of the island and oscillations with random amplitude (e.g., due to the thermal activation) change the transport characteristics ...
June 1, 2000
Radio-frequency (rf)- operated single-electron transistors (SETs) are high-sensitivity, fast-response electrometers, which are valuable for developing new insights into single-charge dynamics. We investigate high-frequency (up to 1 MHz) charge noise in an AlGaAs/GaAs quantum dot using a transmission-type rf-SET technique. The electron capture and emission kinetics on a trap in the vicinity of the quantum dot are dominated by a Poisson process. The maximum bandwidth for measur...
May 7, 2002
By using the Schwinger-Keldysh approach, we evaluate the current noise and the charge noise of the single-electron transistor (SET) in the regime of large charge fluctuations caused by large tunneling conductance. Our result interpolates between previous theories; the "orthodox" theory and the "co-tunneling theory". We find that the life-time broadening effect suppresses the Fano factor below the value estimated by the previous theories. We also show that the large tunnel con...
June 16, 2005
We analyze the noise properties of two single electron transistors (SETs) coupled via a shared voltage gate consisting of a nanomechanical resonator. Working in the regime where the resonator can be treated as a classical system, we find that the SETs act on the resonator like two independent heat baths. The coupling to the resonator generates positive correlations in the currents flowing through each of the SETs as well as between the two currents. In the regime where the dy...
September 12, 2001
We consider the possibility of using a micromechanical gate electrode located just above the island of a single-electron transistor to measure directly the fluctuating island charge due to tunnelling electrons.
June 29, 2001
We calculate the spectral density of voltage fluctuations in a Single Electron Transistor (SET), biased to operate in a transport mode where tunneling events are correlated due to Coulomb interaction. The whole spectrum from low frequency shot noise to quantum noise at frequencies comparable to the SET charging energy $(E_{C}/\hbar)$ is considered. We discuss the back-action during read-out of a charge qubit and conclude that single-shot read-out is possible using the Radio-F...