Communications of the ACM
New Breed of Electron Interactions in Quantum Systems
Giuseppe Tettamanzi from the School of Physics and colleagues at the University of New South Wales have observed a new class of electron interaction.
Credit: University of New South Wales
University of New South Wales (UNSW) scientists have published research suggesting that quantum electronics could be driven by the orbital nature of electrons, and not just the spin or charge as was previously believed.
UNSW physicists collaborated with scientists from the Materials Science Institute of Madrid and the Kavli Institute in studying the interaction of a single electron bound to a dopant atom in a silicon matrix with many electrons throughout the transistor. The team applied a strong magnetic field and were able to tune the Kondo effect to eliminate the spin-spin interactions, while preserving the orbital-orbital interactions.
"By tuning the effect in two different symmetries of the fundamental state of the system . . . we have observed a symmetry crossover identical to those seen in high-energy physics," UNSW's Giuseppe Tettamanzi says. "In our case this crossover was observed simply by using a semiconductor device which is not too different from the transistor you use daily to send your emails."
The researchers say their work opens the door for exploring a new type of electronics.
From University of New South Wales
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