BERKELEY, Calif., Sept. 12 (UPI) -- U.S. physicists have succeeded in measuring the spin of a single atom, thereby bringing quantum computers and spintronic devices closer to reality.
Researchers striving to shrink computers to the nanoscale consider atomic spin as one possible building block for both processor and memory. But scientists say setting the spin of an atom, let alone measuring it, has been a challenge.
Now, University of California-Berkeley physicists have succeeded in measuring the spin of a single atom, moving one step closer to building nanoscale transistors based on atomic spin.
"From a technical point of view, this demonstrates a new ability to engineer, fabricate and measure spin-polarized nanostructures at the single atom level," said University of California-Berkeley physics Professor Michael Crommie. "Now that I can see an atom's spin, I can ask 'What can I do with that atomic spin? Can I manipulate it? Can I use it, change it?' This means we can now start incorporating it into other structures."
Crommie and his colleagues at UC Berkeley and the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C., recently reported their success in the journal Physical Review Letters.
