We might imagine that electric current flows as a smooth, even stream of electrons through our electronics devices, but at the quantum scale the flow of electric current might be more accurately pictured as a bubbling brook containing many tiny ripples. These ripples can be caused by single-electron effects, which arise due to the repulsion among electrons confined in very small spaces, such as trap sites in transistors. Single-electron effects can lead to tiny changes in the current-voltage characteristics of these devices.
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Source: Phys.org