Circuit design with metallic single–electron tunneling junctions

Nanoelectronics try to benefit from the reduction of the devices' feature sizes. Design strategies have to be introduced for new devices such as single-electronics devices. Single-electronics devices are capable of controlling the transport of only one electron. In this manner, the charge transfer through the device is quantized. In this paper we describe a new equivalent circuit model for single-electronics. In particular the model is useful for the design of circuits that include the metallic single-electron tunneling (SET) junctions and charge storing islands. The Coulomb blockade phenomenon is expressed in local potentials. In our model, we do not explicitly model a tunnel resistance, which opens the way for high maximum switching speeds. Simulations of the single-electronic electron-pump circuit with a SPICE model based on our circuit models are verified by showing identical behavior as simulations done with the SET-device simulator SIMON.