The insights from the review could result in the breakthrough of novel materials and devices to control and regulate transport at the nanoscale.
Image Credit: Singapore University of Technology and Design
The quantum effects of physics have become highly significant to the progress of computing, communications, and sensing.
With quantum mechanics, one can learn about the physics of the transportation of intricate quantities like magnetization, particles, and energy. Doing so could urge the development of novel strong nanoelectronics like thermal diodes.
The quantum transport field is deeply rooted, with around 100 years of research measures that have been invested into progressing the discipline. However, the enormous amount of available data and the complexity of the systems make it a hard task to review.
For this gap to be bridged, scientists from the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) partnered with Instituto de Física da Universidade de São Paulo and Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf to publish a review paper and offer an overview of the theoretical knowledge of quantum systems.
Their study was reported in the journal Reviews of Modern Physics.
While a significant amount of research has been undertaken, the information has not been clearly organized. This makes it difficult for the research community to provide relevant contributions, share common pitfalls, and may discourage potential researchers from entering the field.
Dario Poletti, Study Principal Investigator and Associate Professor, Singapore University of Technology and Design
Poletti added, “This review provides students and experts alike with the accessibility to better structured information, allowing for deeper insights that could in turn foster more research innovations.”
The review concentrates on nanoscopic systems, which at their extremities are linked to the environment so that a current can be forced to go past them.
It has been segmented into three parts, examining how to model quantum transport setups, how to learn them with numerical or analytical methods, and what phenomenology to be anticipated. The pros and cons of the models and techniques were also discussed.
Associate professor Poletti stated that the primary outcomes in main setups were evaluated, building a foundation for anyone in the quantum transport field.
This review will further empower the research community to ask the most pressing questions and tackle the most important issues in quantum transport. Consequently, we will be able to figure out better energy management at the nano scale which can, in turn, create a more sustainable future for us.
Dario Poletti, Study Principal Investigator and Associate Professor, Singapore University of Technology and Design
Journal Reference:
Landi, G. T., et al. (2022) Nonequilibrium boundary-driven quantum systems: Models, methods, and properties. Reviews of Modern Physics. doi.org/10.1103/RevModPhys.94.045006.