Is charge noise in single electron transistors and charge qubits caused by metallic grains?

TL;DR

This study investigates low-frequency noise in single electron transistors, attributing it to charge fluctuations caused by aluminum grains acting as single-electron boxes, with measurements supporting this grain-related noise model.

Contribution

The paper provides experimental evidence linking charge noise in SETs to metallic grains, introducing a model with two charge fluctuators fitting the noise data.

Findings

1/f noise spectrum with two Lorentzians observed

Cut-off frequency varies with SET island potential

Data consistent with charge fluctuations from aluminum grains

Abstract

We report on measurements of low frequency noise in a single electron transistor from a few Hz up to 10 MHz. Measurements were done for different bias and gate voltages, which allows us to separate noise contributions from different noise sources. We find a 1/f noise spectrum with two Lorentzians superimposed. The cut-off frequency of one of the Lorentzians varies systematically with the potential of the SET island. Our data is consistent with two single-charge fluctuators situated close to the tunnel barrier. We suggest that these are due to random charging of aluminum grains, each acting as a single electron box with tunnel coupling to one of the leads and capacitively coupled to the SET island. We are able to fit the data to our model and extract parameters for the fluctuators.