This award supports theoretical and computational research on the quantum mechanics of coherent meso- and nano-scale electronic systems. Investigations will focus on charge and spin transport in ballistic electronic devices, as well as on the spectroscopy of hybrid systems made of metallic nanograins in contact with a superconductor.
Several of the key questions relate to fundamentally important aspects of condensed matter physics, such as coherence in transport and interferometry through electronic microstructures. Special attention will be devoted to local fluctuations of charge, due to imperfectly screened Coulomb interactions, and the nonlinearities they generate in electron dynamics. Innovative mechanisms for the creation, manipulation and detection of pure and polarized spin currents and how to use them for information processing will be sought and investigated. Novel aspects of unconventional superconductivity will be probed in hybrid structures, and experiments will be suggested to help solve persistent enigmas posed by the normal and superconducting states of the cuprate superconductors. Statistical analytical techniques will be thoroughly applied to the study of these phenomena. In parallel to established numerical approaches such as exact diagonalization, recursive matrix inversions or quantal time evolution based on Fast-Fourier transform, new computational techniques with broad applicability will be invented, developed and applied
Graduate students and postdoctoral researchers will participate in all aspects of the project. The research will have impact on undergraduate learning through direct involvement in numerical investigations of classical counterparts of the quantum systems under investigation, either in the context of the curricular requirement of a semester of independent research for the BS. in physics, or during summer internships. The PI is actively working to engage members of underrepresented minorities in every facet of his research activities.
NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY:
This award supports theoretical and computational research on the meso- and nano-scale electronic systems with a focus on novel phenomena that arise as a consequence of quantum mechanics. The research has a focus on how fundamental properties of electrons move through nanoscopic and mesoscopic stystems. These are not only the electric charge carried by the electron but also its "spin." Spin is a quantum mechanical property of the electron; because of spin the electron can be viewed as a very tiny magnet. Understanding how to manipulate electron charge and spin on the nanoscale contributes to the intellectual foundation of the emerging field of "spintronics" and the electronic devices that might result. This research also contributes to the application of ideas based in quantum mechanics to computation, or quantum information science.
