Accuracy of a mechanical single electron shuttle

TL;DR

This paper analyzes the accuracy of a mechanical single electron shuttle by calculating current and fluctuations, showing optimal operation when contact time exceeds the RC-time, using analytical and numerical methods.

Contribution

It provides a combined analytical and numerical investigation of electron shuttle accuracy, highlighting optimal contact timing for improved performance.

Findings

Optimal operation occurs when contact time is much larger than RC-time.

Calculated current and fluctuations match experimental observations.

Analytical and numerical methods complement each other in analysis.

Abstract

Motivated by recent experiments, we calculate both the average current and the current fluctuations for a metallic island which oscillates between two symmetric electrodes. Electrons can only tunnel on or off the island when it is close to one of the electrodes. Using a Master equation we investigate the accuracy of such an electron shuttle both analytically and numerically. It is shown that optimum operation is reached when the contact time is much larger than the RC-time.