Magnetic switch turns strange quantum property on and off
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
But when an applied magnetic field reaches a critical value, it acts as a switch, altering the shape of the orbits and causing the electrons to possess different physical properties after completing a full circuit. The Berry phase is associated with the wave function of a particle, which in quantum theory describes a particle’s physical state. advertisement Although the Berry phase is a purely quantum phenomenon, it has an analog in non-quantum systems. Several members of the current research team – based at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University – developed the theory for the Berry phase switch. To study the Berry phase and create the switch, NIST team member Fereshte Ghahari built a high-quality graphene device to study the energy levels and the Berry phase of electrons corralled within the graphene.