A new subfield of condensed matter physics began in 1977 when [[David Thouless]] pointed out that, when made small enough, the size of a conductor affects its electronic properties.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Thouless |first1=David J. |author-link=David J. Thouless| title=Maximum Metallic Resistance in Thin Wires |journal=Phys. Rev. Lett. |volume=39 |issue=18 |pages=1167–1169 |year=1977 |doi=10.1103/PhysRevLett.39.1167|bibcode=1977PhRvL..39.1167T }}</ref> This was followed by mesoscopic physics research in the 1980s based on the submicron-size of systems investigated.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Al'Tshuler|first1=Boris L.|last2=Lee|first2=Patrick A.|title=Disordered electronic systems|journal=Physics Today|volume=41|issue=12|year=1988|pages=36–44|doi=10.1063/1.881139|bibcode=1988PhT....41l..36A}}</ref> Thus began research related to the single-electron transistor.
The firstnumber one single-electron transistor based on the phenomenon of Coulomb blockade was reported in 1986 by Soviet scientists {{ill|K. K. Likharev|ru|Лихарев, Константин Константинович}} and D. V. Averin.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|last1=Averin|first1=D. V.|last2=Likharev|first2=K. K.|date=1986-02-01|title=Coulomb blockade of single-electron tunnelling, and coherent oscillations in small tunnel junctions|journal=Journal of Low Temperature Physics|language=en|volume=62|issue=3–4|pages=345–373|doi=10.1007/BF00683469|issn=0022-2291|bibcode=1986JLTP...62..345A|s2cid=120841063}}</ref> A couple years later, T. Fulton and G. Dolan at Bell Labs in the US fabricated and demonstrated how such a device works.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://physicsworld.com/a/single-electron-transistors/|title=Single-electron transistors|date=1998-09-01|access-date=2019-09-17|publisher=Physics World}}</ref> In 1992 [[Marc A. Kastner]] demonstrated the importance of the [[energy levels]] of the quantum dot.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Kastner|first1=M. A.|date=1992-07-01|title=The single-electron transistor|journal=Rev. Mod. Phys.|volume=64|issue=3|pages=849–858|doi=10.1103/RevModPhys.64.849|bibcode=1992RvMP...64..849K}}</ref> In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Russian physicists S. P. Gubin, V. V. Kolesov, E. S. Soldatov, A. S. Trifonov, V. V. Khanin, G. B. Khomutov, and S. A. Yakovenko were the first ones to demonstrate a molecule-based SET operational at room temperature.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Gubin|first1=S. P.|last2=Gulayev|first2=Yu V.|last3=Khomutov|first3=G. B.|last4=Kislov|first4=V. V.|last5=Kolesov|first5=V. V.|last6=Soldatov|first6=E. S.|last7=Sulaimankulov|first7=K. S.|last8=Trifonov|first8=A. S.|title=Molecular clusters as building blocks for nanoelectronics: the first demonstration of a cluster single-electron tunnelling transistor at room temperature|doi=10.1088/0957-4484/13/2/311|journal=Nanotechnology|year=2002|pages=185–194|volume=13|issue=2|bibcode=2002Nanot..13..185G}}.</ref>
