| EPSRC Reference: |
GR/M42909/01 |
| Title: |
QUANTUM ENERGY FLOW, DISSIPATION AND DECOHERENCE IN MESOSCOPIC STRUCTURES |
| Principal Investigator: |
MacKinnon, Professor A |
| Other Investigators: |
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| Department: |
Physics |
| Organisation: |
Imperial College London |
| Scheme: |
Standard Research (Pre-FEC) |
| Starts: |
01 December 1998 |
Ends: |
28 February 2002 |
Value (£): |
149,675
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| No relevance to Underpinning Sectors |
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Summary on Grant Application Form |
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Recent experiments by Micheal Roukes at Caltech on heat transport in suspended dielectric nanowires have opened up new avenues for investigation in the fields of mesoscopics and phonon physics. As for electrons in conventional quantum wells, wires etc., phonons confined to the suspended wires can exhibit manifestly nonclassical behaviour. For example, the low temperature thermal conductance is quantized in universal units pk2B/6?, analogous to the well-known 2e2/h electronic conductance quantum. These experiments have motivated us to carry out a theoretical investigation of energy flow and dissipation in submicron-sized, suspended dielectric structures. In the first part of the project, we shall model the fluctuating quantum energy current in suspended structures of the type used in Rourkes' experiments (see Fig 2 of the Case for Support). The fluctuations are a consequence of the fact that the energy comprises discrete quanta - the phonons - which can in principle be detected in Rourkes' devices. In the second part, we shall investigate mechanical energy dissipation in submicron-sized, vibrating cantilever structures. Just as for the energy flow properties, it is expected that the vibrational damping behaviour will be qualitatively different form that of bulk mechanical oscillators. In the third and final part of the project, we shall investigate the possibility of creating and detecting quantum superpositions of spatially separated states for submicron moveable mirrors.
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Key Findings |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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Potential use in non-academic contexts |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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Impacts |
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| Description |
This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk |
| Summary |
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Sectors submitted by the Researcher |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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| Project URL: |
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| Further Information: |
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| Organisation Website: |
http://www.imperial.ac.uk |