Excellent charge offset stability in a Si-based single-electron tunneling transistor

We have measured the long-term drift and the short-term 1/f noise in the charge offset Q(0)(t) in two Si-based single-electron tunneling transistors (SETTs). In contrast to metal-based SETTs, these devices show excellent charge stability, drifting by less than 0.01e over weeks. The short-term 1/f noise magnitude is similar to the metal-based devices, demonstrating that different mechanisms are responsible for the short-term noise versus the long-term drift. Finally, we show that, in addition to the excellent stability over time, it may be possible to make the devices more robust with respect to voltage-induced instability as well. (C) 2001 American Institute of Physics.