Artificial Atoms

The wizardry of modern semiconductor technology makes it possible to fabricate particles of metal or “pools” of electrons in a semiconductor that are only a few hundred angstroms in size. Electrons in these structures can display astounding behavior. Such structures, coupled to electrical leads thro...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inPhysics today Vol. 46; no. 1; pp. 24 - 31
Main Author Kastner, Marc A.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States 01.01.1993
Subjects
360604 > Materials > Corrosion, Erosion, & Degradation
CAPACITANCE
ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES
ELECTRONIC STRUCTURE
ELECTRONS
ELEMENTARY PARTICLES
ELEMENTS
ENGINEERING
FERMIONS
LEPTONS
MATERIALS
MATERIALS SCIENCE
METALS
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES 426000 > Engineering > Components, Electron Devices & Circuits > (1990-)
QUANTUM ELECTRONICS
SEMICONDUCTOR MATERIALS
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Summary:The wizardry of modern semiconductor technology makes it possible to fabricate particles of metal or “pools” of electrons in a semiconductor that are only a few hundred angstroms in size. Electrons in these structures can display astounding behavior. Such structures, coupled to electrical leads through tunnel junctions, have been given various names: single-electron transistors, quantum dots, zero-dimensional electron gases and Coulomb islands. In my own mind, however, I regard all of these as artificial atoms—atoms whose effective nuclear charge is controlled by metallic electrodes. Like natural atoms, these small electronic sytems contain a discrete number of electrons and have a discrete spectrum of energy levels. Artificial atoms, however, have a unique and spectacular property: The current through such an atom or the capacitance between its leads can vary by many orders of magnitude when its charge is changed by a single electron. Why this is so, and how we can use this property to measure the level spectrum of an artificial atom, is the subject of this article.
Bibliography:None
ISSN:0031-9228
1945-0699
DOI:10.1063/1.881393