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Exotic Quantum Phenomena Paves Way for New Type of Computing

In planar materials like graphene, light-like electrons must always come in pairs (even number of cones). By directly imaging the spinning of electrons confined to the surfaces of special materials, an international team of scientists led by Princeton University have now shown the existence of a new type of strange quantum matter in nature called 'topological insulators', which contain only half an electron pair or just one cone. This highly unusual observation shows that if an electron is tagged 'red' and then undergoes a full 360 degree revolution about the ring, it does not recover its initial face as an ordinary everyday object would do, but instead acquires a different color 'blue'. The researchers have shown that this new quantum effect can be the basis for the realization of a rare quantum phase or the 'color' of the electron, which had been a long-sought key ingredient for developing quantum computers that can correct themselves. (Credit: Zahid Hasan)

In planar materials like graphene, light-like electrons must always come in pairs (even number of cones). By directly imaging the spinning of electrons confined to the surfaces of special materials, an international team of scientists led by Princeton University have now shown the existence of a new type of strange quantum matter in nature called 'topological insulators', which contain only half an electron pair or just one cone. This highly unusual observation shows that if an electron is tagged 'red' and then undergoes a full 360 degree revolution about the ring, it does not recover its initial face as an ordinary everyday object would do, but instead acquires a different color 'blue'. The researchers have shown that this new quantum effect can be the basis for the realization of a rare quantum phase or the 'color' of the electron, which had been a long-sought key ingredient for developing quantum computers that can correct themselves. (Credit: Zahid Hasan)

Researchers report seeing electrons mimic the presence of a magnetic field where none is present. The discovery paves way for a new type of quantum computing.

An international team of scientists led by a Princeton University group recently discovered that on the surface of certain materials collective arrangements of electrons move in ways that mimic the presence of a magnetic field where none is present. The finding represents one of the most exotic macroscopic quantum phenomena in condensed-matter physics: a topological Quantum Spin Hall effect.

The research could lead to advances in building a new type of quantum computer that has the flexibility to operate at moderate temperatures as opposed to the low temperatures that are a standard requirement for today’s powerful computing devices. The work at Princeton was funded by the National Science Foundation’s Division of Materials Research and the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Basic Energy Sciences.

Previously researchers could only observe similar motion of electrons under strong magnetic fields and low temperatures known as the quantum Hall effect, which became the foundation of two Nobel Prizes in Physics in 1985 and 1998.

But, theorists at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of California at Berkeley proposed that on the boundaries of certain three-dimensional materials, the spin of individual electrons and the direction in which they move were directly aligned with corresponding electrons without needing high magnetic fields or very low temperatures. In order for this to happen, researchers also theorized that electrons need to move at extremely high speeds. (more…)

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Feb 13, 2009 | Categories: Frontiers of Scientific Exploration | Tags: , , , , , , | Leave A Comment »