The future redefinition of the international system of units in terms of natural constants requires a robust, high-precision quantum standard for the electrical base unit ampere. However, the reliability of any single-electron current source generating a nominally quantized output current $I=ef$ by delivering single electrons with charge $e$ at a frequency $f$ is eventually limited by the stochastic nature of the underlying quantum mechanical tunneling process. We experimentally explore a path to overcome this fundamental limitation by serially connecting clocked single-electron emitters with multiple in situ single-electron detectors. Correlation analysis of the detector signatures during current generation reveals erroneous pumping events and enables us to determine the deviation of the output current from the nominal quantized value $ef$. This demonstrates the concept of a self-referenced single-electron source for electrical quantum metrology.

• Received 24 January 2014

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.112.226803