Nanoscale MOSFET as a potential Room-Temperature Quantum Current Source

Published

March 31, 2020

Author(s)

Kin P. Cheung, Jason P. Campbell

Abstract

Nanoscale metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect-transistors (MOSFETs) with only one defect at the interface can potentially become a single electron turnstile linking frequency and electronic charge to realize the elusive quantized current source. Charge pumping is often described as a process which ‘pumps’ one charge per driving period per defect. The precision needed to utilize this charge pumping mechanism as a quantized current source requires a rigorous demonstration of the basic charge pumping mechanism. Here we present experimental results on a single-defect MOSFET which show that the one charge pumped per cycle mechanism is valid. This validity is also discussed through a variety of physical arguments which enrich the current understanding of charge pumping. The known sources of errors as well as potential sources of error are also discussed. The precision of such a process is sufficient to encourage further exploration of charge pumping based quantum current sources.

Citation

Micromachines

Volume

11

Pub Type

Journals

Download Paper

DOI Link

Keywords

nanoscale, mosfet, quantum current

Citation

Cheung, K. and Campbell, J. (2020), Nanoscale MOSFET as a potential Room-Temperature Quantum Current Source, Micromachines, [online], https://doi.org/10.3390/mi11040364 (Accessed October 7, 2025)