The Physics & Astronomy Colloquium Series presents Garnett Bryant of National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), discussing "Atom-based Si Quantum Solid-state Devices: Building Feynman’s Room at the Bottom One Atom at a Time" on April 17.

Abstract: In his famous 1959 lecture, Richard Feynman presaged nanotechnology, proclaiming that there was plenty of room at the bottom.

I will describe work that we are doing at NIST to develop atom-scale, quantum, solid-state devices in silicon, realizing Feynman’s vision for technology at the smallest scales. I will explain how and why we make solid-state devices that are only a few atoms in size, placed one-by-one with near atomic-scale precision, and I will describe the quantum physics that is revealed by these devices.

As an example, I will focus on our work using tunneling to probe strongly correlated many-body systems.