A proposal of a vacuum micro quantum interference transistor

Abstract

A quantum interference transistor that can be fabricated by available technology and can operate at room temperature is proposed. This device uses the phase interference effect of a vacuum electron that is not influenced by thermal fluctuations, in contrast to an electron in solid-state materials. The device consists of a field emitter, a collector, and segmented capacitors between the emitter and the collector. The capacitors control electron trajectories and the phase interference of the electron in vacuum by their electrical potential. This quantum interference effect is found not to be the same as the Aharonov–Bohm effect contrary to our expectations. We are convinced that the new transistor is capable of room-temperature operation because the large kinetic energy of the electron in vacuum suppresses energy fluctuations caused by the field emission itself and by thermal fluctuations in the emitter material to about 50 meV. The switching time of the transistor is limited in order to average the number of electrons at the collector to allow the emitter-collector current to be a deterministic variable against the quantum stochastic property. The threshold of the switching time is estimated to be of the order of magnitude of 10−11 s for the field emitter reported by C. A. Spindt, I. Brodie, L. Hummphrey, and E. R. Westerberg [J. Appl. Phys. 47, 5248 (1976)].