Improved analysis of the single-electron transistor mixer

In this paper an improved mathematical model for the current-voltage characteristics of the single-electron-transistor (SET) is presented. The model, basically, a Fourier-cosine series, can be used for predicting the performance of the SET when the input is formed of a multisinusoidal signal. Two special cases are considered in detail; the homodyne detector and the heterodyne mixer. The results show that for the homodyne detector the DC drain current exhibits a maximum at a particular value of the input amplitude. This maximum shows a strong dependence on the drain-to-source voltage and less dependence on the temperature. For the heterodyne mixer, the results show that the drain-to-source intermediate-frequency (IF) current exhibits a maximum and a minimum for any scenario of the drain-to-source voltage and the temperature. The value of the input voltages amplitude at which these maxima and minima occur is strongly dependent on the drain-to-source voltage and less dependent of the temperature.