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| Condensed Matter Physics in Everyday Life: Past, Present, and Future | ||
Professor Bradley Foreman |
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| This talk will present a survey of the impact
that condensed-matter physics has had on everyday life, briefly reviewing
important technologies of the past and present before looking ahead
to some of the emerging technologies of the future. For example, the
electronics industry in the first half of the twentieth century was
based largely on the vacuum tube. This was superseded by the germanium
transistor in 1947, and we are now surrounded by integrated circuits
in computers and high-mobility transistors in communications technology.
Recent research has focused on achieving ever-greater functionality
with decreasing size, as exemplified by the single-electron transistor
and the spin transistor. A similar evolution has occurred in optical
electronics, proceeding from the simple light bulb to the light-emitting
diode and laser diode to modern research on photonic band-gap materials
and even materials with a negative refractive index. The focus of
the talk will be on providing a simple description of the operating
principles of each device, showing that the impact of condensed-matter
physics on modern life is likely to continue to grow in the years
ahead. |
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