Electron Spin and Optical Coherence in Semiconductors

JUN 01, 1999

Using ultrafast laser pulses and magnetic fields, electron‐hole pairs in semiconductors may be carefully manipulated, and electron spin states can be preserved over surprisingly long times and distances.

DOI: 10.1063/1.882695

David D. Awschalom

James M. Kikkawa

Semiconductors are ubiquitous in device electronics because their charge distributions are easily shaped and controlled to make logic gates. Since gate switching and intercommunication rates limit device speed, efforts to improve computational power have led the semiconductor industry to push devices to ever‐shrinking sizes. Yet, as advances in this area have improved the function of today’s chip architectures, miniaturization may soon bring additional complications in the form of quantum mechanical effects. Because quantum systems tend to behave statistically, these effects will introduce unpredictable fluctuations in essential; design parameters, such as charge distribution, that will affect performance as device sizes shrink.

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More about the Authors

David D. Awschalom. University of California, Santa Barbara.

James M. Kikkawa. University of California, Santa Barbara.