Noise in the Coulomb blockade electrometer

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Abstract
We have measured the noise of a Coulomb blockade electrometer. Below 100 Hz, the noise referred to the input charge has a 1/f power spectrum with a charge noise of 3×10−4 e/√Hz and an energy sensitivity EN of 3×104 ℏ at 10 Hz. The 1/f noise probably results from the stochastic occupation of charge traps which could in principle be eliminated. The theoretical noise floor is set by shot noise, and indirect measurements show that this contribution to EN can be as small as 1.5 ℏ, suggesting that the electrometer will be a quantum limited amplifier if the 1/f noise can be eliminated.