SELF-ASSEMBLY OF SINGLE-ELECTRON TRANSISTORS AND RELATED DEVICES

For the past 40 years, since the invention of the integrated circuit, the number of transistors on a computer chip has doubled roughly every 18 months. As the limits of photolithography are rapidly approached, however, it is becoming clear that continued increases in the way tran sistors are designed and operated. This review summarizes current stra tegies for fabricating transistors which operate based on the flow of single electrons through nanometre-sized metal and semiconductor parti cles; i.e. single electron transistors (SETs). Because the room temper ature operation of SETs requires nanoparticles <10 nm in diameter, we focus mainly on devices which have the potential for being assembled f rom the solution phase (non-lithographic systems). Several application s of SETs are discussed in addition to the major hurdles which must be overcome for their implementation in electronic device technology.