Skip to main content
Go to the home page of the European Commission (opens in new window)
English English
CORDIS - EU research results
CORDIS

Single-Hole Pumping in Silicon

Objective

A globally consistent system of measurement units and reference standards is a necessary underpinning feature of most technological, industrial and economic activities. In fact, to perform measurements of physical quantities, record and compare them in a consistent way, systems of units and standards have been historically developed and agreed upon. However, in the last few decades, the ever-increasing need for stability and reliability has determined a shift from standards based on material artefacts or prototypes towards those based on physical phenomena and true constants of nature. The focus of this proposal is the development of a novel quantum technology to generate highly accurate electric currents directly linked to the elementary charge. This could serve as the practical implementation for a quantum-based standard for the SI unit ampere, which is a long-standing goal in electrical metrology. Semiconductor nano-scale charge pumps have been used in the last three decades to generate accurate electric currents by clocking the transport of single electrons with driving oscillators. The main limitation to the fidelity of the charge transfer is ultimately ascribable to the poor spatial confinement of electrons that produces errors during the pumping cycle. In this project silicon-based nanotechnology will be employed to realize and operate the world-first charge pump based on the transfer of single holes rather than electrons. A hole carries the positive equivalent of an elementary charge, but its effective mass can be significantly larger than the electron's. The resulting tightly confined charge carrier wavefunction is expected to provide significant benefits in suppressing pumping errors. The primary objectives will be to develop the underpinning technology to fabricate and operate the first single-hole pump, and experimentally assess its performances in comparison to the well-established electron-based technology.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.

You need to log in or register to use this function

Programme(s)

Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.

Topic(s)

Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.

Funding Scheme

Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.

MSCA-IF-EF-RI - RI – Reintegration panel

See all projects funded under this funding scheme

Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

(opens in new window) H2020-MSCA-IF-2014

See all projects funded under this call

Coordinator

THE CHANCELLOR MASTERS AND SCHOLARS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 183 454,80
Address
TRINITY LANE THE OLD SCHOOLS
CB2 1TN Cambridge
United Kingdom

See on map

Region
East of England East Anglia Cambridgeshire CC
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
Links
Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

€ 183 454,80
My booklet 0 0