We demonstrate an alternating-current (ac) signal sensing with a nanometer-scale dynamic random access memory (DRAM) based on single-electron control. The double-gate transistor constituting the DRAM controls the motion of a single electron. When an ac signal of a frequency 6 orders of magnitude greater than the cutoff frequency of the single-electron motion through the transistor is input, single electrons are charged in the capacitor of the DRAM and subsequently read out as an output signal representing the ac signal. This ac-to-single-electron conversion is comprehensively analyzed both experimentally and theoretically from a thermodynamic perspective by our using single-electron counting statistics. Furthermore, we confirm that the response time of the ac-to-single-electron conversion is directly influenced by the cutoff frequency. These findings collectively demonstrate the potential of our single-electron DRAM as a highly sensitive sensor for high-frequency ac signals.

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• Nonequilibrium statistical mechanics
• Stochastic thermodynamics
• Devices for digital logic, storage & processing
• Single-electron devices
• Full counting statistics
• Master equation
• Noise measurements
• Transport techniques