Radio-frequency operation of a double-island single-electron transistor

Abstract

We present results on a double-island single-electron transistor (DISET) operated at radio-frequency (rf) for fast and highly sensitive detection of charge motion in the solid state. Using an intuitive definition for the charge sensitivity, we compare a DISET to a conventional single-electron transistor (SET). We find that a DISET can be more sensitive than a SET for identical, minimum device resistances in the Coulomb blockade regime. This is of particular importance for rf operation where ideal impedance matching to 50 Ohm transmission lines is only possible for a limited range of device resistances. We report a charge sensitivity of 5.6E-6 e/sqrt(Hz) for a rf-DISET, together with a demonstration of single-shot detection of small (<=0.1e) charge signals on microsecond timescales.