Quantum interference field sensor

A sensor detects either magnetic or electric fields or analogue signals using quantum interference. Quantum entities such as electrons or holes are transported along a substrate by surface acoustic waves (SAW) 216 to provide an input current 202 which is divided into two paths 206a,206b by a splitte...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors TOSHIO OHSHIMA, ROBERTA RODRIQUEZ, ARTUR KONRAD EKERT, DANIEL KUAN LI OI
Format Patent
LanguageEnglish
Published 22.02.2006
Subjects
MEASURING
MEASURING ELECTRIC VARIABLES
MEASURING MAGNETIC VARIABLES
PHYSICS
TESTING
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Summary:A sensor detects either magnetic or electric fields or analogue signals using quantum interference. Quantum entities such as electrons or holes are transported along a substrate by surface acoustic waves (SAW) 216 to provide an input current 202 which is divided into two paths 206a,206b by a splitter 204 formed by electrodes 222a,222b. Wave functions of the paths are partially coherent and are combined in second splitter 210 which has at least one output 214a,214b providing an output current that depends upon quantum interference between the wavefunctions and in response to a sensed field E. A filter or electron gate may be formed by electrodes 220a,220b and restricts the input to splitter 204 to substantially a single entity at a time. Combiner 210 may have two current outputs 214a,214b that provide a field strength signal in response to the ratio of their sum and difference, which signal may be fed to a feedback device (fig 2d) that optimises the sensitivity of the sensor. The sensor may comprise a Mach-Zender interferometer and may utilise the Aharonov-Bohm effect.
Bibliography:Application Number: GB20040018332