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'Small' Science Awarded

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Frank Ruess, PhD, a researcher at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in Sydney, Australia, has been pioneering a way to make atomic-scale electronic devices using the atomic resolution capability of the scanning tunneling microscope. This "small" ambition has earned him the Australian Institute of Physics (AIP) 2007 Bragg Gold Medal, which honors the best physics PhD thesis nationally each year.

Based at UNSW's Centre for Quantum Computer Technology, Ruess is working with colleagues in the Atomic Fabrication Facility under the supervision of physics professor Michelle Simmons. He has demonstrated very narrow conducting wires in silicon and the smallest silicon quantum dots, where the active components of the device were related directly to device characteristics.
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Frank Ruess, PhD, at the Atomic Fabrication Facility at the University of New South Wales (Photo courtesy Camera Vision)
"This is a unique ability internationally and means UNSW researchers are now making the smallest transistors and interconnects," the university said in a statement. "The technology allows a fundamental understanding of the crossover between classical and quantum electronics. It paves the way for unprecedented miniaturization of electronic devices and the goal of creating silicon-based quantum computers."

Scanning probe microscopes, which are typically used to observe atomic-scale features rather than to fabricate devices, are the only tools that have allowed the manipulation of matter at the atomic level. Before 2003, there was no technology to make electronic devices in silicon at the level of single atoms, UNSW said.

Ruess, who graduated from UNSW in 2006, said, "I find it amazing that we can perform experiments with atomic-level control that allow us to observe quantum mechanical effects manifesting at the smallest scale. While the ultimate atomic scale device will be a quantum computer, this research also has the ability to provide insights relevant to the semiconductor industry."

UNSW provided an Endeavour International Postgraduate Research Scholarship (EIPRS) for Ruess, a native German, for his PhD studies. Beyond that, he said, "Good intuition, perserverance, great mentoring and support were key for a successful PhD."

The Bragg Medal was instituted by the AIP to commemorate Sir Lawrence Bragg and his father, Sir William Bragg. The pair received the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1915 for their analysis of crystal structures using x-rays.

For more information, visit: www.qcaustralia.org/bio/staff_ruess.php
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Published: March 2008
Glossary
nano
An SI prefix meaning one billionth (10-9). Nano can also be used to indicate the study of atoms, molecules and other structures and particles on the nanometer scale. Nano-optics (also referred to as nanophotonics), for example, is the study of how light and light-matter interactions behave on the nanometer scale. See nanophotonics.
photonics
The technology of generating and harnessing light and other forms of radiant energy whose quantum unit is the photon. The science includes light emission, transmission, deflection, amplification and detection by optical components and instruments, lasers and other light sources, fiber optics, electro-optical instrumentation, related hardware and electronics, and sophisticated systems. The range of applications of photonics extends from energy generation to detection to communications and...
AIPatomic-scale electronic devicesAustraliaAustralian Institute of PhysicsBasic ScienceBiophotonicsBragg Gold MedalCentre for Quantum Computer Technologyfiber opticsFrank RuessMicroscopynanoNews & Featuresphotonicsscanning tunneling microscopesSydneyUniversity of New South WalesUNSW

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