However, there is nothing phantom about the electrons at the second foci. They are really doing their thing. If not provide answers, Eigler says, further experiments should at least sharpen the questions. This discovery is not a purely scientific diversion, either. It has direct application to IBM's business.
Computer research is driven by the electronic hardware market's greed for ever-smaller circuitry.
The quantum mirage may be a giant step in a new direction of the minuscule. It turns out that an observer at the second focus point of the mirage can learn vital information about what is happening at the primary focus, such as whether or not there is an atom at the first point. This is an important piece of information because the existence of an atom at the first focus can represent a bit, a 1. The absence of an atom can represent another bit, a 0. Detecting the presence or absence of a bit is the foundation of computer technology, which is based on the infinite relationships of 0's and 1's.