title: Nanoscale paul trapping of a single electron.
abstract: We demonstrate that a Paul trap made up of four conducting nanotubes is capable of trapping a single electron. In addition to the size, the major differences between such a nano-trap and its macroscopic analogue are that the electron is treated as a quantum object and that its effect ("back reaction") on the trapping device cannot be ignored. We computationally demonstrate focusing and trapping of an electronic wave packet, while fully accounting for the image charges induced by the electron on the nanotubes. The electron image charge interaction significantly affects the electron dynamics, and thus the trap stability. An (entangled) set of trapped electrons offers a number of advantages for quantum information processing.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Physics, Weizmann Institute of Science, 76100 Rehovot, Israel. ds2469@columbia.edu
authors.forename: Dvira
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Segal
authors.forename: Moshe
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shapiro
mesh_terms: D003198:Computer Simulation; D017076:Computer-Aided Design; D004563:Electrochemistry / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D004583:Electrons; D004867:Equipment Design; D008846:Micromanipulation / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D008956:Models, Chemical; D008958:Models, Molecular; D036103:Nanotechnology / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D043942:Nanotubes / Q000737:chemistry*; D011789:Quantum Theory; D055672:Static Electricity