In the call for proposals for National Centers of Competence in Research (NCCRs), the University of Basel put forward two projects – and both have been given the green light. The Biozentrum and the Department of Physics are the leading houses for these major initiatives. Vice President Torsten Schwede talks about the preparations that led to this successful outcome, and about the long-term goals of the two projects.
Researchers have succeeded in creating an efficient quantum-mechanical light-matter interface using a microscopic cavity. Within this cavity, a single photon is emitted and absorbed up to 10 times by an artificial atom. This opens up new prospects for quantum technology.
Physicists have developed a technique based on optical microscopy that can be used to create images of atoms on the nanoscale. In particular, the new method allows the imaging of quantum dots in a semiconductor chip.
Scientists from the University of Basel’s Department of Physics and the Swiss Nanoscience Institute have succeeded in dramatically improving the quality of individual photons generated by a quantum system. The scientists have successfully put a 10-year-old theoretical prediction into practice.
Physicists from the University of Basel have developed a memory that can store photons. These quantum particles travel at the speed of light and are thus suitable for high-speed data transfer. The researchers were able to store them in an atomic vapor and read them out again later without altering their quantum mechanical properties too much.
have succeeded in coupling an extremely small quantum dot with 1,000 times larger trumpet-shaped nanowire. The movement of the nanowire can be detected with a sensitivity of 100 femtometers via the wavelength of the light emitted by the quantum dot. Conversely, the oscillation of the nanowire can be influenced by excitation of the quantum dot with a laser.
In a quantum computer, quantum states form the smallest information units and replace the binary code used by today’s computers. Until now, these so-called qubits were typically created in a semiconductor using individual electrons, but these were vulnerable to dephasing. Now, an international team of researchers led by physicists from the University of Basel has succeeded in using a missing electron to create a qubit.
For the first time, researchers at the University of Basel have coupled the nuclear spins of distant atoms using just a single electron. Three research groups from the Department of Physics took part in this complex experiment, the results of which have now been published in the journal Nature Nanotechnology.
With the help of a semiconductor quantum dot, physicists at the University of Basel have developed a new type of light source that emits single photons.