Access
To read this story in full you will need to login or make a payment (see right).
News and Views
Nature 410, 424-425 (22 March 2001) | doi:10.1038/35068660
Mesoscopic physics: Noisy times ahead
Jan van Ruitenbeek
Abstract
Realizing the dream of quantum computing will require knowledge and techniques from many fields. A new theory concerning the properties of nanometre-scale circuits can contribute.
Mesoscopic electronics is the study of the movement of electrons in tiny circuits — composed of conductors, capacitors and inductors — on the order of hundreds of nanometres to several micrometres. At these sizes, and at low temperatures, quantum mechanics dominates all of the properties of circuit elements, so the familiar laws used by engineers in designing and analysing electronic circuits are useless.
To read this story in full you will need to login or make a payment (see right).