SCIENCE

The bridge between classical physics and the mysterious world of quantum phenomena is inconceivably cold and unimaginably tiny, where atoms move in a slow goo the researchers call 'molasses'. Dr Keith Schwab of the US National Security Agency and his team at the University of Maryland are combining the most advanced techniques in nanofabrication, ultra-low temperatures, and quantum electronics to create the totally new science of quantum electromechanics. Working near absolute zero, they have recently carried out the closest approach to the quantum uncertainty principle ever made, and will discuss their findings at a major national scientific conference in Australia this week. "Using the nano-devices developed by Professor Michael Roukes and his team at Caltech, combined with ultra-sensitive Single Electron Transistors, and ultra-low temperatures, we are hoping to be able to actually observe quantum phenomena in a mechanical system ," says Dr Schwab. The ultimate goal of the experimental work is to investigate the possibility of quantum computing and to probe ever larger quantum systems. "We are anticipating many exciting and, most likely, very strange experiments in the near future," says Dr Schwab. "A weird example of quantum electromechanics is the possibility of a mechanical device being located in two places at once. This experiment is entirely within the known boundaries of quantum mechanics and our experimental capability." Dr Schwab will be speaking on one of their strange observations, 'Cooper-Pair Molasses: Cooling a nanomechanical resonator with quantum backaction' at the Sir Mark Oliphant Conference on Quantum Nanoscience, at The Noosa Blue Resort, Noosa, Queensland from January 22-26, 2006.