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Quantum physics

Single electrons pop out of the Fermi sea

Nature volume 502, pages 630–631 (2013)Cite this article

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The ability to control individual electrons in an electronic conductor would pave the way for novel quantum technologies. Single electrons emerging from a sea of their fellows in a nanoscale electrode can now be generated. See Letter p.659

Splashing water in the bath usually leads to small waves, splashes and droplets. Similarly, applying a voltage pulse to the sea of electrons in a nanoscale electrode produces a complex quantum state involving several electrons that have been kicked out of the sea, as well as holes — or missing electrons — left behind. On page 659 of this issue, Dubois et al.1 report the first experimental voltage-pulse generation of just a single electron, not several, emerging on top of an electronic seaFootnote 1.

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Figure 1: Spotting solitons and levitons.

Notes

  1. *This article and the paper under discussion1 were published online on 23 October 2013.

References

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  1. Christian Flindt is in the Department of Theoretical Physics, University of Geneva, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland.,

    Christian Flindt

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  1. Christian Flindt
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Correspondence to Christian Flindt.

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Flindt, C. Single electrons pop out of the Fermi sea. Nature 502, 630–631 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature12699

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