Single-electron transistor: Effects of the environment and detecting electron motion in real time

This thesis will be divided into two parts. In the first part, theory and results of a novel system in which a superconducting single-electron transistor (S-SET) coupled to a two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) serving as a tunable electromagnetic environment for the S-SET will be discussed, including effects of dissipation, resonant tunneling with photon emission, and photon-assisted tunneling. In the second part, we discuss the techniques for which the SET is incorporated in an RF resonant circuit, resulting in an ultra high charge sensitivity and bandwidth. After the 2DEG is confined into a quantum dot, random telegraph signals (RTS) caused by individual electrons tunneling on and off the dot have been observed. In the equilibrium configuration, the occupational probabilities of the charge states of the dot can be directly measured from the RTS and were found to follow a Fermi distribution. In the non-equilibrium configuration, the RTS correctly detected the onset of the current through the dot.