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Quantum physics

Tunnelling across a nanowire

Nature volume 484, pages 324–325 (2012)Cite this article

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The observation of a phenomenon known as coherent quantum phase slip, across a nanowire in a superconducting system, paves the way for applications in quantum computing and metrology. See Letter p.355

Quantum mechanics is the most accurate theory of modern physics. It was originally formulated1 in 1925 to describe microscopic particles such as electrons and atoms, but whether the theory is applicable to the macroscopic world of everyday objects has remained unclear. On page 355 of this issue, Astafiev et al.2 demonstrate that quantum theory can describe the tunnelling of magnetic flux across a narrow segment of a superconducting loop. Taken as a whole, this device represents a macroscopic and complex system, involving — at the very least — probably many thousands of electrons.

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Figure 1: The Mooij–Harmans qubit.

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  1. Alexey Bezryadin is in the Department of Physics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801–3080, USA.

    Alexey Bezryadin

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  1. Alexey Bezryadin
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Correspondence to Alexey Bezryadin.

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Bezryadin, A. Tunnelling across a nanowire. Nature 484, 324–325 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/484324b

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