Quantum Mirage

Abstract:
introduction
The term quantum mirage refers to a phenomenon that may make it possible to transfer data without conventional electrical wiring. Instead of forcing charge carriers through solid conductors, a process impractical on a microscopic scale, electron wave phenomena are made to produce effective currents.
All moving particles have a wavelike nature. This is rarely significant on an everyday scale. But in atomic dimensions, where distances are measured in nanometers, moving particles behave like waves. This phenomenon is what makes the electron microscope workable. It is of interest to researchers in nanotechnology, who are looking for ways to deliver electric currents through circuits too small for conventional wiring.
A quantum mirage is a spot where electron waves are focused so they reinforce each other. The result is an energy hot zone, similar to the acoustical hot zones observed in concrete enclosures, or the electromagnetic wave focus of a dish antenna. In the case of electron waves, the enclosure is called a quantum corral. An elliptical corral produces mirages at the foci of the ellipse. A typical quantum corral measures approximately 20 nm long by 10 nm wide. By comparison, the range of visible wavelengths is approximately 390 nm (violet light) to 750 nm (red light). One nanometer is 10-9 meter, or a millionth of a millimeter.
One of the biggest obstacles to the continued shrinkage of electronic elements within integrated circuits is the connection between them. As the size of these elements decreases, so must the size of the wires that carry electrons from one to another. But beyond a certain point, a wire's ability to conduct electrons is significantly hampered, preventing the message from getting through. Therefore, if nanotechnology and atomic-scale computers are to become a reality, an alternative means of sending information between circuit elements must be developed. As computer circuit features shrink toward atomic dimensions -- which they have for decades in accordance with Moore's Law -- the behavior of electrons changes from being like particles described by classical physics to being like waves described by quantum mechanics. On such small scales, for example, tiny wires don't conduct electrons as well as classical theory predicts. So quantum analogs for many traditional functions must be available if nanocircuits are to achieve the desired performance advantages of their small size.