Physics (Internal)

Etch-a-Sketch Nanoelectronics

This event is part of the Biophysics/Condensed Matter Seminar Series.

Electronic confinement at nanoscale dimensions remains a central means of science and technology. I will describe a novel method for producing electronic nanostructures at the interface between two normally insulating oxides, LaAlO3 and SrTiO3. Conducting nanostructures are written, erased and reconfigured under ambient conditions at room temperature, analogous to the operation of an Etch-a-Sketch toy. A wide variety of devices can be created, including nanowires, tunnel junctions, diodes, field-effect transistors, single-electron transistors, superconducting/ballistic nanowires, nanoscale THz emitters and detectors, and quantum point contacts. After an overview, I will focus on a recent result: the discovery of a novel phase in which electrons form pairs without becoming superconducting. I will end by describing a grand challenge we are currently pursuing: development of a solid-state quantum simulator.