Joint Quantum Institute Researchers Delve into Klein Tunneling: Electrons Transiting Unimpeded Through Barriers
Perfect quantum portal emerges at exotic interface
Excerpts and salient points ~
+ Researchers at the University of Maryland have captured the most direct evidence to date of a quantum quirk that allows particles to tunnel through a barrier like it’s not even there. The result, featured on the cover of the June 20, 2019 issue of the journal Nature, may enable engineers to design more uniform components for future quantum computers, quantum sensors and other devices.
“In electronics, device-to-device spread is the number one enemy,” Takeuchi says. “Here is a phenomenon that gets rid of the variability.”
+ Klein tunneling occurs when the barrier becomes completely transparent, opening up a portal that particles can traverse regardless of the barrier’s height. Scientists and engineers from UMD’s Center for Nanophysics and Advanced Materials (CNAM), the Joint Quantum Institute (JQI) and the Condensed Matter Theory Center (CMTC), with appointments in UMD’s Department of Materials Science and Engineering and Department of Physics, have made the most compelling measurements yet of the effect.
+ Junctions between superconductors and other materials are ingredients in some proposed quantum computer architectures, as well as in precision sensing devices. The bane of these components has always been that each junction is slightly different, Takeuchi says, requiring endless tuning and calibration to reach the best performance. But with Klein tunneling in SmB6, researchers might finally have an antidote to that irregularity.
Source: JOINT QUANTUM INSTITUTE. Chris Cesare, Perfect quantum portal emerges at exotic interface…
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