A Comparative Study of Single-Electron Memories

We study different memory cell designs and compare their advantages and disadvantages from an engineering point of view. We look at operational stability as a function of temperature and stray charge (random background charge), and discuss the issue of reliable mass production. We conclude that memories seem to be one of the most promising large scale single-electron tunnel applications, that lie, particularly when granular films are used, already in the range of today’s process technology.