A wire-like piece of semiconductor in which the movement of electrons is restricted to one dimension, and quantum effects cause their energy of transverse motion (and hence the wire's resistance) to be quantized.
Origin
1980s; earliest use found in Journal Luminescence.
Definition of quantum wire in US English:
quantum wire
noun
Physics
A wire-like piece of semiconductor in which the movement of electrons is restricted to one dimension, and quantum effects cause their energy of transverse motion (and hence the wire's resistance) to be quantized.
Origin
1980s; earliest use found in Journal Luminescence.