Coulomb Blockade — Single-Electron Transistor

A metallic island between two tunnel junctions shows quantized charging: current flows only when the gate voltage compensates the charging energy E_C = e²/2C, producing Coulomb oscillations.

Parameters

E_C = e²/2C (charging energy)
Blockade: |eV_sd| < 2E_C
Oscillations: period ΔV_g = e/C_g
Current: