Nanoelectromechanics of shuttle devices

TL;DR

This paper reviews recent advances in nanoelectromechanical shuttle devices, highlighting their electromechanical coupling, quantum effects, and ongoing research into their theoretical and experimental aspects.

Contribution

It provides a concise overview of recent developments in NEM-SET structures, emphasizing new functionalities involving quantum coherence and electron-spin dynamics.

Findings

Recent experimental realizations of NEM-SET devices

Emergence of quantum coherence effects in shuttle dynamics

Potential for new quantum functionalities in nanoelectromechanics

Abstract

A single-electron tunneling (SET) device with a nanoscale central island that can move with respect to the bulk source- and drain electrodes allows for a nanoelectromechanical (NEM) coupling between the electrical current through the device and mechanical vibrations of the island. Although an electromechanical "shuttle" instability and the associated phenomenon of single-electron shuttling were predicted more than 15 years ago, both theoretical and experimental studies of NEM-SET structures are still carried out. New functionalities based on quantum coherence, Coulomb correlations and coherent electron-spin dynamics are of particular current interest. In this article we present a short review of recent activities in this area.