Physicists Listen To Atoms Whispering Using A Quantum Microphone
On the quantum level sound creates quasiparticles known as phonons. So far nobody managed to detect the state of individual phonons. But now a team from Stanford did it using a quantum microphone.
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When vibrations in a crystal matrix move from place to place they sort of act like particles. But they aren't real particles they are quasiparticles known as phonons. Using phonons we can describe how soundwaves move through crystals thus the phonon is a quasiparticle of the sound field in solid matter. As similarly to real particles, they are really really small.
A team from Stanford developed a quantum microphone – an incredible device that is so sensitive that it can detect individual phonons. The research was published in the newest issue of the journal Nature. This technology could potentially lead to smaller and more effective quantum computers that could manipulate sound instead of light. It is much easier to handle phonons compared to light and their wavelengths are many times smaller than the ones of photons. The research lead Amir Safavi-Naeini says that their device could become the key for new types of quantum sensors, transductors or memories for quantum computers.
Phonons were invented by Albert Einstein in 1907 as packages of the vibrational energy of atoms. They can appear as sound or warmth – depending on their frequency. A similarly to photons phonons are on a quantum level discreet.
Until now scientists weren't capable of measuring the states of individual states of phonons in solid structures because the energy that differentiates them is incredibly small. The team from Stanford managed to do it by building the most sensitive microphone in the world. It uses quantum mechanics to listen to the whispers of individual atoms.
To be more precise, their device is capable of measuring the number of phonons in soundwaves. They used the fact that quantum laws don't prevent us from measuring energy (theoretically infinitely precisely). The quantum microphone is made by am assembly of nanomechanic resonators that are so small you can only see them under an electron microscope. The resonators are connected to a superconductive circuit that functions as a qubit. When the nanomechanical resonators vibrate they generate phonons in different states. Their energy that corresponds to their state will show in the qubits spectrum and those finally can be electronically read.
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