Physics chemistry :: essays research papers

ATHENS, Ohio -- Todays computers and other technological gizmos operate on electronic charges, that researchers predict that a new generation of smaller, faster, more efficient devices could be developed based on another scientific concept -- electronic turn of events. The problem, however, is that researchers have found it challenging to control or predict spin which keeps practical applications out of reach. But physicists in Europe, California and at Ohio University straightway have found a way to manipulate the spin of an electron with a jolt of voltage from a battery, according to research findings published in the recent issue of the journal Physical Review Letters. In the new study, scientists applied voltage to the electron in a quantum dot, which is a tiny, nanometer-sized semiconductor. The burst of power changed the direction of the electrons spin -- which can move both up or down. This also ca utilize it to emit a small pinpoint of light called a photon, explained Richard Warburton, a physicist with Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, Scotland, and trace author on the new paper. Usually you have no control over this at all an electron flips its spin at some point, and you scratch your passing game and wonder why it happened. But in our experiment, we can choose how want this process takes, he said. The experiment was based on a surmisal by Sasha Govorov, an Ohio University associate professor of physics and astronomy who is co-author on the current paper. Pierre Petroff, a scientist with the University of California at Santa Barbara, contributed the semiconductor used in the experiment, Indium Arsenide, which commonly is used in electronics. Its unmatchable of those intellectual collaborations -- Pierre has given us some fantastic material and Sasha has scrape up up with some really smart ideas, Warburton said. The scientists were able to manipulate how large it would take for the electron to flip its spin and emit a photon from star to 20 nanoseconds. But Govorovs theory suggests that 20 nanoseconds isnt the upper limit, which will lead the physicists to try out longer time periods. Scientists abilities to control the spin of the electron help determine the properties of the photon, which in turn could have implications for the development of optoelectronics and quantum cryptography. Photons could be encoded with secure information, which could serve as the basis for anti-eavesdropping technology, Warburton said. The current study is one of many in the growing field of nanoscience that aims to find, understand and control physiological effects at the nanoscale that could serve as the basis of a