Single-Electron Devices With Input Discretizer

We propose an input discretizer for single-electron (SE) devices. The input discretizer is composed of one small tunnel junction and two capacitances. Adjusting the capacitances to be equal discretizes the gate charge with interval of a half of the elementary charge
e
, which enhances the performance of SE devices. An SE transistor with the input discretizer has abrupt switchings of the Coulomb blockade thresholds, resulting in steep responses to the input signal. An SE turnstile with the input discretizer enhances its operation margins for the application of a digital-to-analog converter element. Both analytical and numerical results are presented.