Coulomb gap refrigerator

Abstract

We propose a remarkably simple electronic refrigerator based on the Coulomb barrier for single-electron tunneling. A fully normal single-electron transistor is voltage $V$ biased at a gate position such that tunneling through one of the junctions costs an energy of about $k_BT \ll eV, E_C$, where $T$ is the temperature and $E_C$ is the transistor charging energy. The tunneling in the junction with positive energy cost cools both the electrodes attached to it. Immediate practical realizations of such a refrigerator make use of Andreev mirrors which suppress heat current while maintaining full electric contact.