ABSTRACT
In this chapter we consider some basic SET circuits in detail.
The discussion is limited to those circuits that allow an analytical
treatment. Besides this it is assumed that: the tunnel time is zero,
the initial island charge is zero, no random background charges are
present, and the influence of temperature is neglected. Of course, in
thiswaywe are only capable of finding a qualitative description. This
qualitative description, however, gives a good idea of the behavior
of the circuits. We will consider both bounded and unbounded
currents. The reason for considering unbounded currents is that,
although in real circuits these currents will not be present, they
provide easily an analytical treatment and always provide a value
for the critical voltage that is between the two extremes in the case
of bounded currents including or not including a possible tunneling
time. The Coulomb blockade phenomenon calculated in circuits with
unbounded currents has a qualitative resemblance with circuits
having bounded current if resistors (and thus real energy sources)
are included. Besides this, it gives results that can be foundmostly in
the current literature on SET circuitry. Simulators simulating these
idealistic circuits exist.
