Atomtronics is an emerging type of computing consisting of matter-wave circuits which coherently guide propagating ultra-cold atoms. The systems typically include components analogous to those found in
electronic
Electronic may refer to:
*Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductor
* ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal
*Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device
*Electronic co ...
or
optical
Optics is the branch of physics that studies the behaviour and properties of light, including its interactions with matter and the construction of instruments that use or detect it. Optics usually describes the behaviour of visible, ultraviole ...
systems, such as
beam splitter
A beam splitter or ''beamsplitter'' is an optical device that splits a beam of light into a transmitted and a reflected beam. It is a crucial part of many optical experimental and measurement systems, such as interferometers, also finding wide ...
s and
transistor
upright=1.4, gate (G), body (B), source (S) and drain (D) terminals. The gate is separated from the body by an insulating layer (pink).
A transistor is a semiconductor device used to Electronic amplifier, amplify or electronic switch, switch e ...
s. Applications range from studies of fundamental
physics
Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...
to the development of practical devices.
Etymology
Atomtronics is a portmanteau of "atom" and "
electronics
The field of electronics is a branch of physics and electrical engineering that deals with the emission, behaviour and effects of electrons using electronic devices. Electronics uses active devices to control electron flow by amplification ...
", in reference to the creation of atomic analogues of electronic components, such as
transistor
upright=1.4, gate (G), body (B), source (S) and drain (D) terminals. The gate is separated from the body by an insulating layer (pink).
A transistor is a semiconductor device used to Electronic amplifier, amplify or electronic switch, switch e ...
s and
diode
A diode is a two-terminal electronic component that conducts current primarily in one direction (asymmetric conductance); it has low (ideally zero) resistance in one direction, and high (ideally infinite) resistance in the other.
A diode ...
s, and also electronic materials such as
semiconductor
A semiconductor is a material which has an electrical resistivity and conductivity, electrical conductivity value falling between that of a electrical conductor, conductor, such as copper, and an insulator (electricity), insulator, such as glas ...
s. The field itself has considerable overlap with
atom optics Atom optics (or atomic optics) is the area of physics which deals with beams of cold, slowly moving neutral atoms, as a special case of a particle beam.
Like an optical beam, the atomic beam may exhibit diffraction and interference, and can be focu ...
and
quantum simulation, and is not strictly limited to the development of electronic-like components.
Methodology
Three major elements are required for an atomtronic circuit. The first is a
Bose-Einstein condensate, which is needed for its
coherent
Coherence, coherency, or coherent may refer to the following:
Physics
* Coherence (physics), an ideal property of waves that enables stationary (i.e. temporally and spatially constant) interference
* Coherence (units of measurement), a deri ...
and
superfluid
Superfluidity is the characteristic property of a fluid with zero viscosity which therefore flows without any loss of kinetic energy. When stirred, a superfluid forms vortices that continue to rotate indefinitely. Superfluidity occurs in two ...
properties, although an ultracold
Fermi gas
An ideal Fermi gas is a state of matter which is an ensemble of many non-interacting fermions. Fermions are particles that obey Fermi–Dirac statistics, like electrons, protons, and neutrons, and, in general, particles with half-integer spin. ...
may also be used for certain applications. The second is a tailored trapping potential, which can be generated
optically,
magnetically
Magnetism is the class of physical attributes that are mediated by a magnetic field, which refers to the capacity to induce attractive and repulsive phenomena in other entities. Electric currents and the magnetic moments of elementary particles ...
, or using a combination of both. The final element is a method to induce the movement of atoms within the potential, which can be achieved in several ways. For example, a transistor-like atomtronic circuit may be realized by a ring-shaped trap divided into two by two moveable weak barriers, with the two separate parts of the ring acting as the drain and the source and the barriers acting as the gate. As the barriers move, atoms flow from the source to the drain. It is now possible to coherently guide matterwaves over distances of up to 40 cm in ring-shaped atomtronic matterwave guides.
Applications
The field of atomtronics is still very young. Any schemes realized thus far are proof-of-principle. Applications include:
*
gravimetry
Gravimetry is the measurement of the strength of a gravitational field. Gravimetry may be used when either the magnitude of a gravitational field or the properties of matter responsible for its creation are of interest.
Units of measurement
Gr ...
* rotational sensing via the
Sagnac effect
The Sagnac effect, also called Sagnac interference, named after French physicist Georges Sagnac, is a phenomenon encountered in interferometry that is elicited by rotation. The Sagnac effect manifests itself in a setup called a ring interferometer ...
*
quantum computing
Quantum computing is a type of computation whose operations can harness the phenomena of quantum mechanics, such as superposition, interference, and entanglement. Devices that perform quantum computations are known as quantum computers. Though ...
Obstacles to the development of practical sensing devices are largely due to the technical challenges of creating Bose-Einstein condensates. They require bulky lab-based setups not easily suitable for transportation. However, creating portable experimental setups is an active area of research.
See also
*
Unconventional computing
Unconventional computing is computing by any of a wide range of new or unusual methods. It is also known as alternative computing.
The term ''unconventional computation'' was coined by Cristian S. Calude and John Casti and used at the First Inte ...
References
External links
*
*
{{Electronic systems
Electronics
Emerging technologies