Jeremy Levy Talks about Etch-a-Sketch Nanotechnology at TEDxPittsburgh
A moment of inspiration that evolved into multi-million dollar quantum computing concept.
News
Measuring Many-Body Entanglement
PQI faculty Andrew Daley and his colleagues have proposed a scheme for the measurement of entanglement in a system of cold atoms in an optical lattice. Entanglement is an important theoretical concept, but was previously thought to be difficult to measure in microscopic many-particle systems. They tackle the problem by asking how one might track the changes in entanglement in a nonequilibrium many-body system.
Their proposal involves an optical lattice created by lasers and filled with bosons: identical copies of a boson chain stored in the lattice are coupled as a potential barrier between them is reduced. After tunneling has occurred, a measurement of how the lattice wells are populated would give the entanglement entropy.
PQI Launch
The Pitt Quantum Initiative is scheduled to launch officially in Sep
Jung-Kun Lee Awarded NSF Grant for Solar Cell Research
Jung-Kun Lee has received a National Science Foundation grant for his research into solar cell energy conversion. The grant, Solid State Dye Sensitized Solar Cells Using Tunable Surface Plasmons of Core-Shell Particles, is $290,724 over three years.
The objectives of this research are to develop a fundamental understanding the physical interactions among surface plasmons, solar light modulation, and carrier/exciton generation, and to design the novel plasmonic particles (i.e. metal nanoshell) that enhance light absorption capacity of solid dye sensitized solar cells.
Nanoscientists Suggest Use of Vacuums to Overcome Limits of Conventional Silicon-Based Semiconductor Electronics
With the advent of semiconductor transistors—invented in 1947 as a replacement for bulky and inefficient vacuum tubes—has come the consistent demand for faster, more energy-efficient technologies. To fill this need, researchers at PQI are proposing a new spin on an old method: a switch from the use of silicon electronics back to vacuums as a medium for electron transport—exhibiting a significant paradigm shift in electronics. Their findings were published in Nature Nanotechnology.
"Physical barriers are blocking scientists from achieving more efficient electronics," said Hong Koo Kim, PQI faculty and principal investigator on the project. "We worked toward solving that road block by investigating transistors and its predecessor—the vacuum."
Paul Leu Receives Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Achievement Award from Oak Ridge Associated Universities
PQI faculty Paul W. Leu is a recipient of the Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Achievement Award. The awards provide seed money for research by junior faculty at Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU) member institutions. These awards are intended to enrich the research and professional growth of young faculty and result in new funding opportunities.
PQI Team Awarded Grant to Simulate Turbulent Combustion in Aerospace Applications
A research team at PQI is developing quantum-computing algorithms to better model turbulent combustion in aerospace applications. A five-year U.S. Air Force grant was awarded this month to principal investigator and PQI faculty Peyman Givi, Andrew Daley, and Jeremy Levy.
"If some of the things we are thinking do work and eventually we do achieve this, a process that could take weeks or months will transpire in minutes," said Givi. "It really is a quantum leap."
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