Cooling mesoscopic electrons down to the quantum limit

The study of mesoscopic semiconductor devices, where electrons are confined into submicron-sized dots and wires, has been extremely fruitful over the past 25 years. To maximise the possibility of observing new quantum effects measurements are typically performed in a dilution fridge with a base temperature of less than 10 mK. It is very difficult to get the electrons as cold as the fridge, and many of the great advances in the field have been achieved with the electrons at temperatures as high as 100 mK. We would like explore new physics of electrons down to 1 mK. The project involves collaboration with groups at UCL and Cambridge, and is described at this website: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/nano-electronics
There will be opportunities to work with PhD students and post-docs at all three institutions. The work involves both individual and team skills and is well suited to those with a broad understanding of quantum mechanics and solid-state physics, and would suit a graduating student in physics who would like to learn new experimental skills both in the clean room and in the measurement lab.