Physics. Intertwining electron tunneling with light.
Physics. Intertwining electron tunneling with light.
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物理。
DOI：
10.1126/science.1221416
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发表时间：
2012
期刊：
影响因子：
--
通讯作者：
Szymanska MH
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Szymanska MH
如果我们试图将球抛过一座建筑物，但抛得太慢，它就会反弹。但是，量子力学“球”(例如，电子)也具有波的性质，因此穿过势垒的机会是有限的(就好像我们的经典球消失在建筑物中，从另一边出来一样)。量子隧道是放射性衰变等自然过程的基础，并被用于许多设备的操作，如隧道结和扫描隧道显微镜。在这些应用中，通过改变设计(例如，改变绝缘层的厚度)或施加外部电场，通过改变势垒高度或宽度来控制隧穿速率。在本期第704页上发表的一项研究中，Cristofoliniet等人通过将电子纠缠到部分由光组成的复杂准粒子中来控制电子的光学隧穿。这一结果开辟了基于光子态和电子隧穿态之间相干转移的广泛的光电子学应用。
If we try to lob a ball over a building but throw it too slowly, it bounces off. But a quantum-mechanical “ball” (e.g., an electron) also has a wave nature, and thus has a finite chance of tunneling through the barrier (as if our classical ball disappeared into the building and came out the other side). Quantum tunneling underlies natural processes such as radioactive decay and is harnessed in the operation of many devices, such as tunnel junctions and scanning tunneling microscopes. In these applications, tunneling rates are controlled by changing the barrier height or width, either by altering the design (e.g., changing the thickness of an insulating layer) or by applying an external electric field. In a study reported on page 704 of this issue, Cristofoliniet al.controlled electron tunneling optically by entangling the electron into a complex quasiparticle—which they call a “dipolariton”—partially made of light. This result opens up a wide range of optoelectronic applications based on coherent transfer between a photon state and an electron tunneling state.