An accidental discovery of a "quantum Etch-a-Sketch" that may lead to the next generation of advanced computers and quantum microchips has been made by team of scientists from Penn State University and the University of Chicago. The team accidentally has discovered a new way of using beams of light to draw and erase quantum-mechanical circuits on topological insulators, a unique class of materials with intriguing electronic properties.
The research, led by Nitin Samarth, Professor and Downsbrough Head of Physics at Penn State and David D. Awschalom, Liew Family Professor and deputy director in the Institute of Molecular Engineering at the University of Chicago, will be published on October 9, 2015 in Science Advances, the new online journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, where it will be featured on the journal's front page.
The new technique is more flexible than advanced nanofabrication facilities based on chemical processing because it allows for rewritable "optical fabrication" of the topological insulators. "This observation came as a complete surprise," Awschalom said. "It's one of those rare moments in experimental science where a seemingly random event -- turning on the room lights -- generated unexpected effects with potentially important impacts in science and technology."
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