Jason Petta
Assistant Professor of Physics
Princeton University
Princeton NJ USA

photo: Princeton University, Office of Communications, Brian Wilson

Jason Petta, an assistant professor of physics, has found a way to alter the property of a lone electron without disturbing the trillions of electrons in its immediate surroundings. Such a feat is an important step toward developing future types of quantum computers.

photo: Princeton University, Office of Communications, Brian Wilson

In his laboratory, Petta has trapped one or two electrons in microscopic corrals created by applying voltages to miniscule electrodes on a wafer of semiconductor.

photo: Princeton University, Office of Communications, Brian Wilson

Spin qubits, which could be the core logic elements of quantum computers, are cooled in a device called a dilution refrigerator to temperatures near absolute zero in order to exploit the mysterious rules of quantum mechanics.

photo: Princeton University, Office of Communications, Brian Wilson