A general SPICE compatible circuit model for single-electron devices and application to bit-error-rate calculations

ABSTRACT The main purpose of this paper is study of the single‐electron devices (SEDs) behavior, having metal islands, in the time domain. On this basis, some new conceptions, such as division of islands in independent type and dependent type and introduction of multi‐dimensional state space for a SED, have been presented. Then, a new circuit model is introduced for SEDs in general N‐dimensional case. This model is based on the orthodox theory and the solution of the time‐dependent master equation with the capability of installation in the HSPICE software. Hence, one can simulate behavior of the compound circuits including SEDs and other circuit elements by help of this model. Another interesting characteristic of the introduced circuit model is the possibility of using it in calculation of bit error rate in single‐electron logical gates considering both the time and the temperature effects. The behavior of various SEDs in low frequencies is studied, and the results are compared with the results of SIMON, often used as a reference. Furthermore, the time‐dependent results of these devices in high frequencies are calculated and compared with the analytic results for step inputs. These comparisons indicate accuracy and validity of the model. Finally, the model is used for simulating time‐dependent behavior of some single‐electron logic gates, and their total error rate are calculated. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. In this paper, a new time‐dependent circuit model for single‐electron devices (SEDs) in general N dimensional case is introduced. Using the proposed model, we can investigate the transient behavior of a compound circuit including SEDs and the other circuit elements at high frequencies and nonzero temperatures. An attractive feature of our model is the capability to use it for computing the bit error rate in single‐electron logical gates, considering both time and temperature effects.