Multipeak negative-differential-resistance device by combining single-electron and metal-oxide-semiconductor transistors

publishe

A Multiple-Valued Logic and Memory With Combined Single-Electron and Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Transistors

publishe

ESSDERC 2002 Silicon Single-Electron Devices for Logic Applications

The single-electron device (SED) is drawing a lot of attention for future large-scale integration because of its low-power nature and small size. We have developed a novel method called pattern-dependent oxidation (PADOX) for fabricating small Si single-electron transistors (SETs) and used it to make many kinds of SEDs. One of the most primitive and important SEDs that we have demonstrated is a quasi-CMOS type inverter that has voltage gain larger than unity. The inverter utilizes a SET as a switch, although it acts as both p-type and ntype switches. In addition, SETs have two unique features that conventional transistors do not have. One is multiinput gates capability, and the other is oscillatory conductance as a function of gate voltage. We have exploited these features to achieve complicated functions, such as an adder and a multiple-valued memory. In addition, we have developed a single-electron CCD that enables us to manipulate a single electron without tunnel capacitors. The device utilizes small Si-wire MOSFETs connected in series, and an elementary charge can be transferred like in a CCD. 1

Fabrication of double-dot single-electron transistor in silicon nanowire

We propose a simple method for fabricating Si single-electron transistors (SET) with coupled dots by means of a pattern-dependent-oxidation (PADOX) method. The PADOX method is known to convert a small one-dimensional Si wire formed on a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) substrate into a SET automatically. We fabricated a double-dot Si SET when we oxidized specially designed Si nanowires formed on SOI substrates. We analyzed the measured electrical characteristics by fitting the measurement and simulation results and confirmed the double-dot formation and the position of the two dots in the Si wire

ALG-2-interacting Tubby-like protein superfamily member PLSCR3 is secreted by an exosomal pathway and taken up by recipient cultured cells.

Synopsis PLSCR3 (phospholipid scramblase 3, Scr3) belongs to the superfamily of membrane-associated transcription regulators named Tubby-like proteins (TULPs). Physiological phospholipid scrambling activities of PLSCRs in vivo have been skeptically argued, and knowledge of the biological functions of Scr3 is limited. We investigated the expression of Scr3 during differentiation of mouse 3T3-L1 preadipocytes by Western blotting (WB) and by reverse-transcription and real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR). The Scr3 protein decreased during 3T3-L1 differentiation accompanied by a reduction in the mRNA level, and there was a significant increase in the amount of Scr3 protein secreted into the culture medium in the form of extracellular microvesicles (exosomes). On the other hand, Scr3 expression did not significantly decrease, and the secretion of Scr3 in 3T3 Swiss-albino fibroblasts (a parental cell-line of 3T3-L1) was not increased by differentiation treatment. Overexpression of human Scr3 during 3T3-L1 differentiation suppressed triacylglycerol accumulation and inhibited induction of the mRNAs of late stage pro-adipogenic transcription factors [CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein α (C/EBPα) and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ )] and X-box-binding protein 1 (XBP1). Expression of early stage pro-adipogenic transcription factors (C/EBPβ and C/EBPδ) was not significantly affected. These results suggest that Scr3 functions as a negative regulator of adipogenesis in 3T3-L1 cells at a specific differentiation stage and that decrease in the intracellular amount of Scr3 protein caused by reduction in Scr3 mRNA expression and enhanced secretion of Scr3 protein appears to be important for appropriate adipocyte differentiation