Performance of a bipolar single electron device

TL;DR

This paper investigates how a small bipolar transistor with a polysilicon emitter exhibits single-electron effects that suppress hole transport, with potential applications in Coulomb blockade device readouts.

Contribution

It models base current suppression due to single-electron tunneling using orthodox theory and recombination approximations, highlighting a novel application in Coulomb blockade circuits.

Findings

Base current suppression depends on emitter window size.

Single-electron effects significantly influence hole transport.

Potential use as a readout system for Coulomb blockade devices.

Abstract

A small scale bipolar transistor with polysilicon emitter will, depending on the emitter window size, display suppression of the hole tramsport due to single electron effects. In this paper the resulting base current suppression is computed in terms of the orthodox theory of single electron tunneling and a recombination time approximation. The possible application of the transistor as readout system for Coulomb blockade device circuits is discussed.