Good vibes: Coupling electron spin states and carbon nanotube vibrations
Wednesday, May 23, 2012 - 08:01
in Physics & Chemistry
(Phys.org) -- An electron’s spin is separate from its motion, and is suitable for use in both highly-precise magnetic sensing as well as a qubit in quantum computing. Recently, scientists at the University of Konstanz in Germany have theoretically investigated the coupling of electron spin in carbon nanotube quantum dots, showing that the carbon nanotube’s nanomechanical vibrations can significantly affect the spin of an electron trapped on it. Moreover, their findings also theoretically show that the carbon nanotube itself can be affected by the electron’s spin. The researchers state that their findings have important implications for magnetic and mass nanosensors, quantum computing and other nanoscale applications.