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2006 Award Recipients
AAAS Newcomb Cleveland Prize
Supported by Affymetrix
Petta, Johnson, Taylor, Laird, Yacoby, Lukin, Marcus, Hanson, and Gossard
Jason R. Petta, Alexander C. Johnson, Jacob M. Taylor, Edward A. Laird, Amir Yacoby, Mikhail D. Lukin, Charles M. Marcus, Micah P. Hanson, Arthur C. Gossard for the research article "Coherent Manipulation of Coupled Electron Spins in Semiconductor Quantum Dots," published online in Science Express 1 September 2005, published in print 30 September 2005, pp. 2180-2184.
The Association's oldest award, the AAAS Newcomb Cleveland Prize, supported by Affymetrix, was established in 1923 with funds donated by Newcomb Cleveland of New York City. The Prize acknowledges an outstanding paper published in the Articles, Research Articles, or Reports sections of Science. Each recipient receives a bronze medal and a share of the $25,000 prize.
This paper shows a system in which two closely spaced gallium arsenide quantum dots each holds an electron. The spins of the electrons are managed by an imposed magnetic field and also by electrostatic control provided by electrodes spanning the two dots. The electron on each dot combine to form "singlet spin state" where the spins are anti-parallel, but this state remains coherent for only about 1 nanosecond because of the influence of the neighboring nuclear spins in the crystal. Ingeniously, the authors were able to exchange electrons in a way that effectively eliminated influence from the crystal nuclei and restore the singlet state. The swaps, between the singlet-state anti-parallel alignment and the triplet-state parallel alignment, could maintain coherence for more than one microsecond, which is sufficient to offer promise in the design of spin-coded quantum computation.
Affymetrix, Inc. added its support to the AAAS Newcomb Cleveland Prize in 2003, helping to more than double the prize's monetary value. Affymetrix founder, chair, and CEO Stephen P.A. Fodor, Ph.D., and his colleagues were awarded the Newcomb Cleveland Prize in 1990 for their landmark publication which first introduced microarray technology to the scientific community. (Light-directed, spatially addressable parallel chemical synthesis, with co-authors J. Read, M.C. Pirrung, L. Stryer, A.Lu, and D. Solas, Science 15 February 1991.)
"Receiving the Newcomb Cleveland Award in 1990 was the first important public acknowledgment of our invention," said Fodor. "Today, the award remains one of our most valued. Affymetrix is thrilled to support its continued legacy. It is important to recognize and encourage the innovative work of new scientists as their work will become the foundation for future research and discovery."
Affymetrix is a pioneer in creating breakthrough tools that are driving the genomic revolution. By applying the principles of semiconductor technology to the life sciences, Affymetrix develops and commercializes systems that enable scientists to improve quality of life. The Company's customers include pharmaceutical, biotechnology, agrichemical, diagnostics, and consumer products companies as well as academic, government, and other non-profit research institutes. Affymetrix offers an expanding portfolio of integrated products and services, including its integrated GeneChip® platform, to address growing markets focused on understanding the relationship between genes and human health. Affymetrix has about 1,100 employees worldwide.
Please click here for a list of past recipients.
