The July 20011 edition of the Institute of Electrical & Electronic Engineers (IEEE)
Spectrum Magazine has an article by Joel E. Moore of the University of California,
Berkeley entitled "Topological Insulators".
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Originally Posted by Joel E. Moore
Quantum magic can make strange but useful semiconductors that are insulators on the inside and conductors on the surface.
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Originally Posted by Joel E. Moore
This is the story of a remarkable theory, hatched in the middle of the past decade, that experimentalists have been pursuing ever since. It is particularly sweet because it is linked to a branch of mathematics—topology—that had until now been mostly beyond any hope of practical application. And the discovery is about as straightforward as it gets: It is possible to produce materials that are insulators on the inside but conductors on the outside.
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Originally Posted by Joel E. Moore
fast electrons, sensitivity to applied fields, reversibility of doping, and robustness in the face of noise—and you can see why topological insulators have excited the engineering community. They may even help us build one of the chief objects of desire of applied physics: the quantum computer.
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On a personal note, I also found the article interesting because it mentions
during its introduction in several places both "
modulation doping", which creates
a two-dimensional electron gas at the interface between two semiconductors of
different bandgaps and "
quantum wells", both of which were discovered by my
previous boss.
Modulation doping is used in the ubiquitous High Electron Mobility Transistor (HEMT).
If you have a mobile phone, then you will have one in your pocket.
Article here -
http://spectrum.ieee.org/semiconduct...cal-insulators
Weird & wonderful Quantum Topological Insulators
