Storing A Single Electron?
Ever since the Bell Labs invention of the transistor, semiconductor magicians
have been shrinking the transistor switch. Perhaps the ultimate incredible
disappearing act will be the so-called single-electron transistor (SET) device
that stores a bit of information as the presence or absence of a single electron,
or small group of electrons, marooned on a quantum island in the middle of
the device channel. Such SETs have been demonstrated recently by industry
and academic researchers, both in the US and in Japan. While these
demonstrations are impressive, the necessity to produce billions of SETs on a
single piece of silicon raises hard-nosed questions of control, manufacturing
yields, and ultimately cost.
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