EECS 428: Introduction to Quantum Nanotechnology

Coverage

Technologies that leverage quantum phenomena can exceed the performance of classical devices (i.e. computers, sensors and networks). This emerging technological sector requires engineers and scientists to understand the quantum mechanics behind these new systems. This course will introduce students to the underlying theory that describes quantum mechanical systems, and provide context for the application of quantum phenomena and current and future technologies

The course will explore the new properties of nano-vibrators, quantum LC circuits, quantum tunneling, the role of loss, the impact of the quantum vacuum on nano-switches, coherent superposition, quantum entanglement and light, one photon at a time. 

Additional information

The development and application of nanotechnology governed by quantum behavior is impacting nearly all the fields of engineering, from those who are developing it to those who use it. Future engineers working to design new devices will need a skill set that is considerably broadened to include the behavior of materials and devices when they become sufficiently small. Devices like transistors and quantum well lasers have already forced engineers to understand the impact of Fermi-Dirac statistics and energy quantization on devices. However, the field of nanotechnology is revealing that the concepts we have from our current scale devices are no longer adequate to predict correct device experience. Moreover, in this new regime, new physical properties are emerging that may revolutionize how we think of information and its storage, transmission and processing. This course aims to introduce students to basic concepts and calculation tools in quantum physics that are relevant to novel device concepts.