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09/01-- In research that is part of an effort to make super powerful "quantum computers," Purdue University researchers have created quantum dots in this extremely fine circuitry, using a standard process known as electron beam lithography. A semiconducting material known as gallium arsenide was coated with a plastic. Then extremely fine lines were cut into the plastic coating using a beam of electrons. The lines were filled with a metal and the plastic dissolved, leaving behind metal lines that are like wires only about 50 nanometers wide. A nanometer – or billionth of a meter – is roughly 5-10 atoms wide. The quantum dots (shown in the center of the image) are puddles of about 20-40 electrons. Each dot measures only about 180 nanometers in diameter – about 5,000 of them could stretch across the width of a grain of sand. (Illustration by Albert Chang, Purdue University Department of Physics)
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(Illustration by Albert Chang, Purdue University Department of Physics)
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