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Entrepreneur exploits quantum physics

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2003 Phys. World 16 (5) 8

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N E W S A N D A N A LY S I S
INDUSTRY
Entrepreneur exploits quantum physics
In 1995 David Lussey got more than he
bargained for when he tried to find a way of
making office equipment secure. The Royal
Air Force missile expert was mixing together
a metal and a polymer to create a material
that he thought would become an insulator
when stretched. The idea was that the ma-
terial would set off an alarm if attached to
an object that someone was trying to re-
move. But he discovered that this did not
happen with one particular formulation.
Lussey had no civilian scientific qualifica-
tions, but he had enough technical know-
ledge to know that there was something
unusual going on. Like other metal–polymer
composites, he assumed that as the material
was stretched its constituent metal particles
would be pulled further apart, turning it into
an insulator. But the material he developed
became a conductor whenever it was
stretched or twisted, as well as when it was
compressed. Lussey realized the commercial
potential of his discovery and set up a com-
pany called Peratech to exploit it. Eight years
on, the company is selling its product to com-
panies as diverse as mobile-phone manufac-
turers, car makers, and even NASA.
As it turns out, Lussey’s material was ex-
ploiting the phenomenon of quantum tun-
nelling, in which electrons pass from one
conductor to another across a gap that can-
not be crossed classically. In conventional
composites there is a high enough density of
metal particles to ensure that the material is
a conductor in its normal state. But Lussey’s
material – which he has since named quan-
tum tunnelling composite (QTC) – has a
L O W - T E M P E R AT U R E P H Y S I C S
Bismuth provides decay half-life record
Physicists in France have measured the
longest ever radioactive half-life of a
naturally occurring element undergoing
alpha decay. Nöel Coron and colleagues at
the Institut d’Astrophysique Spatiale in
Orsay monitored the decay of bismuth-209,
which has a half-life of almost 2 × 1019 years.
They detected the alpha particles emitted by
the bismuth as it decays into thallium-205
using a “scintillating bolometer” at very low
temperatures (P de Marcillac et al. 2003
Nature 422 876).
Although bismuth-209 is commonly
thought to be the heaviest stable isotope
that exists in nature, theory suggests that it
should be metastable and decay by emitting
alpha particles. This process is not easy to
detect because the alpha particles have
8 physicsweb.org
Flexible friend – Peratech founder David Lussey
with a sample of quantum tunnelling composite.
lower ratio of metal to polymer, and the
metal particles therefore do not touch. But
these particles are irregularly shaped and
quantum tunnelling can occur when they
are brought close to one another through
mechanical deformation of the material.
“The secret with our material is to have a
precise ratio of metal to polymer and to
ensure that the shape of the metal particles
does not change significantly during ma-
nufacture,” says Lussey. The tunnelling cur-
rent varies exponentially with the separation
of conductor particles, so relatively small
changes in the force applied to the material
result in an enormous change in resistance.
Following his discovery, Lussey joined
forces with David Bloor, a professor of ap-
plied physics at Durham University, to ex-
plore the physics of the new material. He
then hired Paul Laughlin, who has a physics
PhD from Durham. The company has since
received funding from the local council and
very little energy, which means that the
isotope decays at a tiny rate.
The equipment used by the Orsay team
consists of two “heat and light” detectors
enclosed in a reflecting cavity and cooled to
20 mK. The first detector – containing
bismuth-209, germanium and oxygen –
undergoes a slight temperature rise when it
absorbs an alpha particle. This temperature
change is measured in the form of a voltage
pulse, the amplitude of which is directly
proportional to the energy released. The
second detector, made from a thin disk of
germanium, registers the light flashes
produced by the alpha-particle absorption.
The Orsay team performed two
measurements – one with 31 g of
bismuth-209 in the detector and the other
government, and has been awarded two pa-
tents for its technology.
In bulk the QTC material resembles a
lump of dense rubber, but Peratech has
now produced it in a number of forms, such
as grains and foam. The company’s first
commercial product involves a set of con-
trols made from QTC that are sewn into the
sleeve of a ski jacket and wired up to a per-
sonal stereo in the jacket pocket. Since the
conductivity of the QTC changes when
pressed, these controls allow the user to
adjust the volume and other functions of
the personal stereo by touching the arm of
the jacket.
Peratech is also developing technology
for the detection of volatile organic com-
pounds. Such chemicals cause the polymer
in QTC to expand, which changes the resist-
ance of the material. Other applications
include touch-sensitive power tools, which
incorporate QTC elements that speed up
or slow down the action of the tool de-
pending on the pressure applied to them.
And NASA is developing a robotic hand
that, says Lussey, behaves as “the electronic
equivalent of human skin”. Sensors made of
QTC at the end of each finger allow the
controller of the hand to detect the hardness
of surfaces and permit a sensitive control of
the gripping function.
The company currently employs seven
people and will double this number within
the next couple of months when it makes the
transition from an R&D-based organization
to one focused on sales and marketing.
Edwin Cartlidge
with 62 g. The scientists registered 128
alpha-particle events over five days and
found an unexpected line in the spectrum at
3.14 MeV – the signature of bismuth-209
decay. They calculated the half life to be
1.9 ± 0.2 × 1019 years, which is in good
agreement with the theoretical prediction
of 4.6 × 1019 years.
The team believes that the technique
could also be used as a way of detecting
beta and gamma decays. “The experiment
is a by-product of our search for dark
matter,” explains team member Pierre de
Marcillac. “Other kinds of decays, such as
protons from proton-rich nuclei, could be
studied by the same method but this will
have to be proved.”
Belle Dumé
PHYSICS WORLD MAY 2003