Wednesday 9 November 2016

Trickling electrons: Close to absolute zero, the particles exhibit their quantum nature

What would happen if an electric current no longer flowed, but trickled instead? A new investigation involved cooling their scanning tunneling microscope down to a fifteen thousandth of a degree above absolute zero. At these extremely low temperatures, the electrons reveal their quantum nature. The electric current is therefore a granular medium, consisting of individual particles. The electrons trickle through a conductor like grains of sand in an hourglass, a phenomenon that can be explained with the aid of quantum electrodynamics.

from Engineering and Construction News – ScienceDaily https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/11/161109113343.htm



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