Look Who's at the Lab: Wei Pan (June 2008)
In Look Who's at the Lab, we profile some of the hundreds of scientists who visit our lab every year.
Wei Pan at the Mag Lab's High B/T Facility
at the University of Florida.
The Basics
The Research
Quick Q & A
Publications
Title: Staff scientist, Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, New Mexico
Mag Lab user since: 1997
Number of visits to the lab: 12 since joining Sandia in 2003
Dates of most recent visit: May-June 2008
Distance traveled: 1,700 miles / 2,700 km (Albuquerque, New Mexico to Gainesville, Florida)
Research Interests:
Quantum transport properties in two-dimensional electron systems
Email: wpan@sandia.gov
Title: Ultra-low temperature studies of the even-denominator fractional quantum Hall state at Landau level filling ν=5/2.
Other Participants: J.S. Xia, Liang Yin, N.S. Sullivan (NHMFL and UF), H.L. Stormer (Columbia University and Bell Labs), Z.G. Ge and D.C. Tsui (Princeton University), L.N. Pfeiffer, K.W. Baldwin, and K.W. West (Bell Labs).
Synopsis: "When two identical particles are exchanged, if they are bosons (for example, photons) the wave function is unchanged; if they are fermions (for example, electrons) the wave function changes sign. If the two particles are the so-called non-Abelian particles, not only the wavefunction is changed, but also the order of exchange of multiple particles is relevant. This topological degree of freedom is insensitive to local perturbations, and can be utilized for fault-tolerant quantum computation.
"Our research at the High B/T Facility is to understand the novel quantum properties of the even-denominator fractional quantum Hall state at the Landau level filling ν=5/2 high quality two-dimensional electron systems, whose quasiparticle excitations may obey the non-Abelian statistics. The ν=5/2 state was discovered in 1987 and unequivocally demonstrated to be quantized in 1999 in an experiment carried out at the High B/T Facility."
Facility: High B/T Facility, University of Florida.
Equipment: Miniature sample rotator, nuclear demagnetization/dilution refrigerator and superconducting magnet.
Techniques: Electronic transport measurements.
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Favorite thing about working at the lab:
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Dedicated staff who are ready to help users. |
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Thing you miss most about home when you’re here:
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Dry weather, and “red or green.”
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Your proudest science moment:
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The first observation of a precisely quantized Hall plateau at ν = 5/2
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What keeps you awake at night:
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What if a quantum computer can indeed be built?
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The most unscientific thing about you:
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A stone cabin in the woods.
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Your hero:
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People who love what they are doing and do their best.
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Last book you read:
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Amarillo in August, a collection of regional stories by Jonathan Miller, a New Mexico lawyer.
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Parting thoughts on science today:
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Encourage more curiosity-driven scientific research.
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- Experimental studies of the fractional quantum Hall effect in the first excited Landau level
W. Pan, J. S. Xia, H. L. Stormer, D. C. Tsui, C. L. Vicente, E. D. Adams, N. S. Sullivan, L. N. Pfeiffer, K. W. Baldwin, and K. W. West
Phys. Rev. B. 77, 075307 (2008)
- Quantization of the Diagonal Resistance: Density Gradients and the Empirical Resistance Rule in a 2D System
W. Pan, J. S. Xia, H. L. Stormer, D. C. Tsui, C. L. Vicente, E. D. Adams, N. S. Sullivan, L. N. Pfeiffer, K. W. Baldwin, and K. W. West
Phys. Rev. Lett. . 95, 066808 (2005).
- Electron Correlation in the Second Landau Level: A Competition Between Many Nearly Degenerate Quantum Phases
J. S. Xia, W. Pan, C. L. Vicente, E. D. Adams, N. S. Sullivan, H. L. Stormer, D. C. Tsui, L. N. Pfeiffer, K. W. Baldwin, and K. W. West
Phys. Rev. Lett. 93, 176809 (2004).
- Exact Quantization of the Even-Denominator Fractional Quantum Hall State at ν= 5/2 Landau Level Filling Factor
W. Pan, J.-S. Xia, V. Shvarts, D. E. Adams, H. L. Stormer, D. C. Tsui, L. N. Pfeiffer, K. W. Baldwin, and K. W. West
Phys. Rev. Lett. 83, 3530 (1999).
Date posted: June 2008
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