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New Breed of Electron Interactions in Quantum Systems ScienceDaily (Jan. 23, 2012) Physicists at the University of New South Wales have observed a new kind of interaction that can arise between electrons in a single-atom silicon transistor. The findings, to be published this week in the journal Physical Review Letters, offer a more complete understanding of the mechanisms for electron transport in nanostructures at the atomic level.
"We have been able to study some of the most complicated transport mechanisms that can arise up to the single atom level," says lead author Dr Giuseppe C. Tettamanzi, from the School of Physics at UNSW. The results contained in this study open the door for new quantum electronic schemes in which it is the orbital nature of the electrons -- and not their spin or their charge -- that plays a major role, he says. The study, in collaboration with scientists from the ICMM in Madrid and the Kavli Institute in The Netherlands, describes how a single electron bound to a dopant atom in a silicon matrix can interact with many electrons throughout the transistor. In these geometries, electron-electron interactions can be dominated by something called the Kondo effect. Conventionally, this arises from the spin degree of freedom, which represents an angular momentum intrinsic to each electron and is always in the up or in the down state. However, researchers also observed that similar interactions could arise through the orbital degree of freedom of the electron. This describes the wave-like function of an electron and can be used to help determine an electrons' probable location around the atom's nucleus. Importantly, by applying a strong magnetic field, the researchers were able to tune this 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 systemwe have observed a symmetry crossover identical to those seen in high-energy physics," says Tettamanzi. "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." Tettamanzi will now investigate another transport mechanism that can arise in quantum dots and single atom transistors called "quantised charge pumping." The idea here is to create a current flowing

Roz Narelle Fernandez bsps1a Physicists Create Working Transistor Consisting of a Single Atom ScienceDaily (Feb. 19, 2012) In a remarkable feat of micro-engineering, an international team of researchers, including physicists at the University of New South Wales in Australia, have created a working transistor consisting of a single atom placed precisely in a silicon crystal. The tiny electronic device, described in a paper published in the journalNature Nanotechnology, uses as its active component an individual phosphorus atom patterned between atomic-scale electrodes and electrostatic control gates. This unprecedented atomic accuracy may yield the elementary building block for a future quantum computer with unparalleled computational efficiency. Until now, single-atom transistors have been realised only by chance, where researchers either have had to search through many devices or tune multi-atom devices to isolate one that works. "But this device is perfect," says Professor Michelle Simmons, group leader and director of the ARC Centre for Quantum Computation and Communication Technology at UNSW. "This is the first time anyone has shown control of a single atom in a substrate with this level of precise accuracy." The microscopic device even has tiny visible markers etched onto its surface so researchers can connect metal contacts and apply a voltage, says research fellow and lead author Dr Martin Fuechsle from UNSW. "Our group has proved that it is really possible to position one phosphorus atom in a silicon environment -- exactly as we need it -- with near-atomic precision, and at the same time register gates," he says. The device is also remarkable, says Dr Fuechsle, because its electronic characteristics exactly match theoretical predictions undertaken with Professor Gerhard Klimeck's group at Purdue University in the US and Professor Hollenberg's group at the University of Melbourne, the joint authors on the paper. The UNSW team used a scanning tunnelling microscope (STM) to see and manipulate atoms at the surface of the crystal inside an ultra-high vacuum chamber. Using a lithographic process, they patterned phosphorus atoms into functional devices on the crystal then covered them with a non-reactive layer of hydrogen. Hydrogen atoms were removed selectively in precisely defined regions with the superfine metal tip of the STM. A controlled chemical reaction then incorporated phosphorus atoms into the silicon surface. Finally, the structure was encapsulated with a silicon layer and the device contacted electrically using an intricate system of alignment markers on the silicon chip to align metallic connects. The electronic properties of the device were in excellent agreement with theoretical predictions for a single phosphorus atom transistor. It is predicted that transistors will reach the single-atom level by about 2020 to keep pace with Moore's Law, which describes an ongoing trend in computer hardware that sees the number of chip components double every 18 months. This major advance has developed the technology to make this possible well ahead of schedule and gives valuable insights to manufacturers into how devices will behave once they reach the atomic limit, says Professor Simmons.

Alyanna Joy Nabor BSPS1A New Breed of Electron Interactions in Quantum Systems ScienceDaily (Jan. 23, 2012) Physicists at the University of New South Wales have observed a new kind of interaction that can arise between electrons in a single-atom silicon transistor. The findings, to be published this week in the journal Physical Review Letters, offer a more complete understanding of the mechanisms for electron transport in nanostructures at the atomic level. "We have been able to study some of the most complicated transport mechanisms that can arise up to the single atom level," says lead author Dr Giuseppe C. Tettamanzi, from the School of Physics at UNSW. The results contained in this study open the door for new quantum electronic schemes in which it is the orbital nature of the electrons -- and not their spin or their charge -- that plays a major role, he says. The study, in collaboration with scientists from the ICMM in Madrid and the Kavli Institute in The Netherlands, describes how a single electron bound to a dopant atom in a silicon matrix can interact with many electrons throughout the transistor. In these geometries, electron-electron interactions can be dominated by something called the Kondo effect. Conventionally, this arises from the spin degree of freedom, which represents an angular momentum intrinsic to each electron and is always in the up or in the down state. However, researchers also observed that similar interactions could arise through the orbital degree of freedom of the electron. This describes the wave-like function of an electron and can be used to help determine an electrons' probable location around the atom's nucleus. Importantly, by applying a strong magnetic field, the researchers were able to tune this 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 systemwe have observed a symmetry crossover identical to those seen in high-energy physics," says Tettamanzi. "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." Tettamanzi will now investigate another transport mechanism that can arise in quantum dots and single atom transistors called "quantised charge pumping." The idea here is to create a current flowing