CAREER: Correlation, Coherence, and Disorder in Nanoscale Devices and Complex Materials

University Of California-Berkeley, Berkeley CA

Investigators

Abstract

This CAREER award combines research on electronic properties of low-dimensional systems with educational activities for both university students and the wider community. The research projects involve new phenomena which emerge when electrons are so tightly confined in one or more directions that their motion in these directions is quantized. Such confinement is realized both in artificial nanostructures, such as quantum dots, and in complex materials, such as carbon nanotubes and cuprate superconductors. The research will focus on three areas. The first research area concerns the strong electronic interactions in small "artificial atom" quantum dots and in single-molecule devices. The principal investigator (PI) will study interaction effects on multiple coupled spin and charge degrees of freedom in quantum dot systems, and the appearance of strong electron-vibrational coupling in molecular devices. The second research area is quantum phase transitions with disorder in two dimensions. The PI plans to study diluted quantum antiferromagnets and quantum effects in percolative superconductors. These projects are related to the PI's continuing work on superconductor-insulator transitions and quantum Hall transitions. The third research area is the quantum coherence of Cooper pairs, spins, and excitons. The PI will study the effective limits on coherent behavior in strongly interacting electronic systems such as superconducting devices and exciton gases. These research directions are expected to have an impact on technology in the relatively near future. Quantum dots have already been commercialized in applications such as optical tagging of biomolecules, and molecular devices and offer a possible route around the size limitations of silicon electronics. Quantum phase transitions are of fundamental interest in theory of condensed matter and occur in technologically important materials. Quantum coherent electronic devices like the SQUID are already in use for applications such as functional MRI. The educational component of this CAREER proposal involves course development, graduate and undergraduate student supervision within the university, and outreach to high school students and others outside the university. Educational initiatives include a new journal club for graduate students, new course material related to nanoscience and nanotechnology, and public lectures on this exciting and fundamental field of physics. %%% This CAREER award combines research on electronic properties of low-dimensional systems with educational activities for both university students and the wider community. The research projects involve new phenomena which emerge when electrons are so tightly confined in one or more directions that their motion in these directions is quantized. Such confinement is realized both in artificial nanostructures, such as quantum dots, and in complex materials, such as carbon nanotubes and cuprate superconductors. The research will focus on three areas. The first research area concerns the strong electronic interactions in small "artificial atom" quantum dots and in single-molecule devices. The principal investigator (PI) will study interaction effects on multiple coupled spin and charge degrees of freedom in quantum dot systems, and the appearance of strong electron-vibrational coupling in molecular devices. The second research area is quantum phase transitions with disorder in two dimensions. The PI plans to study diluted quantum antiferromagnets and quantum effects in percolative superconductors. These projects are related to the PI's continuing work on superconductor-insulator transitions and quantum Hall transitions. The third research area is the quantum coherence of Cooper pairs, spins, and excitons. The PI will study the effective limits on coherent behavior in strongly interacting electronic systems such as superconducting devices and exciton gases. These research directions are expected to have an impact on technology in the relatively near future. Quantum dots have already been commercialized in applications such as optical tagging of biomolecules, and molecular devices and offer a possible route around the size limitations of silicon electronics. Quantum phase transitions are of fundamental interest in theory of condensed matter and occur in technologically important materials. Quantum coherent electronic devices like the SQUID are already in use for applications such as functional MRI. The educational component of this CAREER proposal involves course development, graduate and undergraduate student supervision within the university, and outreach to high school students and others outside the university. Educational initiatives include a new journal club for graduate students, new course material related to nanoscience and nanotechnology, and public lectures on this exciting and fundamental field of physics. ***