The Quantum-Coupled Transistor (QCT): Amplifying the Void

🕔 Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

Comparison, specifications, and a comparison of the quantum field effect transistor (QFET) to the quantum coupled transistor (QCT)

Early design study, the novel Quantum Coupled Transistor, resembling a mirrored point contact transistor from 1947

Part I. Comparative Framework: QCT vs. QFET

  1. Conduction Mechanisms
  2. Coupling Types
  3. Material Stacks
  4. Operating Regimes
  5. Functional Behavior
  6. Conceptual Shift
    → Amplifying Evanescent Fields
     (a) Recovering Lost Information
     (b) Enabling Phase-Coupled Communication
     (c) Accessing Hidden Quantum Channels

1. Conduction Mechanism

Quantum Field-Effect Transistor (QFET) modulates the potential in a quantum well or two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) channel through an electric field. Conduction still occurs through a continuous semiconductor layer such as GaAs, InP, or MoS₂.

In contrast, the Quantum-Coupled Transistor (QCT) contains no continuous conductive channel. Two graphene layers are separated by an insulating h-BN barrier, and current flows only through quantum tunneling, not drift or diffusion.

In simple terms:

  • QFET: electrons move through a channel.
  • QCT: electrons appear through a barrier.

Each graphene sheet can be independently biased, effectively functioning as both electrode and gate analogue. Unlike conventional transistors, the QCT requires no additional control gate – its modulation arises directly from interlayer biasing and phase-coupled tunneling across the h-BN medium.

2. Coupling Type

  • QFET: electric field → charge density → current
  • QCT: field phase → tunneling resonance → tunneling probability

In a QFET, coupling is electrostatic. The gate field modifies the carrier concentration in the channel, altering current flow.
In a QCT, coupling is quantum-mechanical, relying on wavefunction overlap across the barrier. The signal path is therefore:

The QCT does not merely modulate how much current flows; it determines whether two quantum states can interact at all.

3. Material Stack

LayerQFETQCT
ChannelGaAs, InP, Si, MoS₂Graphene (G₁/G₂)
BarrierOxide (Al₂O₃, HfO₂)h-BN (1–5 nm), atomically flat and lattice-matched to graphene
Operating FieldGate-induced electric fieldInterlayer bias plus plasmonic field modes
QCT Graphene/h-BN/Graphene sandwich

While a QFET uses a gate dielectric to control the flow of carriers, the QCT uses the barrier itself as an active quantum medium.

4. Operating Regime

PropertyQFETQCT
FrequencyTens to hundreds of GHz10–50 THz (practical), up to 150 THz (intrinsic)
CoherenceNone (classical drift)Coherent tunneling resonance, phase-sensitive transport
Energy ScalemeV rangeTens to hundreds of meV (bias-tunable)
Signal TypeCharge currentPhase-coupled field (plasmon–phonon mode)

The QCT operates in a high-frequency, coherent regime where quantum phase relationships become the dominant control parameter.

5. Functional Behavior

Functionally, the QCT behaves less like an on-off switch and more like a resonant coupler or quantum mixer. By tuning the interlayer bias and the relative twist angle of the graphene sheets, the device can:

  • Selectively couple specific frequency bands (as in a terahertz heterodyne mixer)
  • Amplify coherence across the tunneling barrier
  • Serve as an ultrafast, low-noise quantum tunneling modulator

6. Conceptual Shift

The Quantum-Coupled Transistor represents a fundamental change in device philosophy:
from controlling charge within matter
to controlling coherence between quantum states.

It is, in essence, a transistor reimagined as a quantum bridge – not a valve for electrons, but a tunable conduit for quantum phase.


Amplifying Evanescent Fields

Evanescent modes decay exponentially with distance, yet they carry critical phase information. In the QCT, amplifying these modes can extend coherence and reveal otherwise hidden channels of information transfer.

(a) Recovering Lost Information

Evanescent components encode high-spatial-frequency (fine-detail) information – Fourier components that fade rapidly. Amplifying them restores detail that would otherwise blur beyond the barrier.

(b) Enabling Phase-Coupled Communication

Across the h-BN barrier, the QCT signal is not a propagating current but a phase-locked near-field coupling. Amplifying this mode:

  • Strengthens modulation of tunneling probability
  • Increases signal-to-noise ratio for coherent effects
  • Potentially enables information transfer via phase coherence rather than direct current flow

(c) Accessing “Hidden” Quantum Channels

Evanescent fields represent the overlap between classical and quantum domains – traces of virtual photons, plasmonic tunneling, and nonlocal correlations. Amplifying them accesses these “hidden” channels, enabling interaction through non-radiative fields.

Mechanism: In the QCT, Negative Differential Resistance (NDR) or quantum feedback re-injects energy into the tunneling modes, sustaining evanescent coupling instead of allowing decay.

Essentially, amplifying the evanescent field means amplifying the void itself – reinforcing the invisible bridge where information resides but energy does not flow.


These properties suggest that the QCT is not merely a device but a testbed for deeper questions about quantum coherence and information flow – leading directly to the framework of Causal-Foliated Signaling.

Part II. Causal-Foliated Signaling (CFS)

  1. Core Axioms
  2. Kinematics and Dynamics
  3. Quantum Rules and Conservation
  4. Experimental Predictions
  5. Test Protocols
  6. Role of the QCT

This article is part of a series, all related to an unexplained sighting I had in 1986 in Ireland:

  1. Precognition of the Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster
  2. UFO Over Galway Bay Chapter 1: The 1986 Salthill Encounter
  3. The Black UFO Report: Prince Charles, a Jumbo Jet, and a Night of Aerial Mysteries
  4. UFO over Galway Bay Chapter 2:  Psychic Mayday from a crashed UFO
  5. UFO over Galway Bay Chapter 3: The Irish Tuatha Dé Danann as Cosmic Visitors
  6. Watch and listen: “The Arrival of the Tuatha Dé Danann” Music Video
  7. UFO Over Galway Bay Chapter 4: Reverse Engineering The Quantum Coupled Transistor
  8. The Quantum-Coupled Transistor (QCT): Amplifying the Void
  9. Can Information Travel Faster Than Light – Without Breaking Physics?

What If We Were About to Make Contact? The Hypothetical Implications of Confirmed Extraterrestrial Intelligence

What could be the worst-case scenario upon announcing the discovery of extraterrestrial technological intelligence? This list is not inclusive.

Scenarios after Human-ETI Contact. This list is not inclusive of all possibilities.

Potential Consequences:

1. Mass Panic:

The crisis of order. Exploitation could surge, with doomsday cults gaining followers and charlatans claiming to be “ambassadors” for the aliens, preying on the fearful.

Economic collapse might occur, as markets could crash due to radical uncertainty following an extraterrestrial discovery. Misinformation would fill the information vacuum, leading to conspiracy theories and fear-mongering, potentially inciting violence and civil unrest.

However, studies of disasters (including the COVID-19 pandemic) suggest that true, sustained mass panic is less common than often assumed.


2. A Retraction: The Crisis of Credibility

What if subsequent investigations prove the discovery to be false, requiring a retraction? This could discredit the entire SETI field.

Such a scenario would be a catastrophic embarrassment. The field already struggles with what some call the “giggle factor,” and being discredited for a generation could severely damage public trust in scientists and science as a whole. Securing funding for future searches might become nearly impossible after a failed extraterrestrial discovery.


3. Humanity Dethroned: The Crisis of Meaning

What if the extraterrestrial discovery implies that humankind no longer occupies the pinnacle of evolution in the cosmos?

Religions centered on human exceptionalism could face a fundamental crisis. However, studies on this subject have shown that the impact may be negligible.

Our entire worldview, which places humanity at the center of meaning, could be invalidated. This could lead to profound, species-wide depression, a loss of purpose, and what philosophers term “cosmic despair.” Why strive, create, or even continue if we are but ants on an unremarkable anthill?

(I disagree.)


4. The Optimistic View (The Cosmic Perspective):

Would this discovery temper humankind’s worst instincts, such as warfare, and diminish the power of despotic rulers?

Carl Sagan and others have hoped that knowing we are not alone would foster a “cosmic perspective.” Realizing we are all citizens of a fragile, shared planet in a vast cosmos could make nationalism, racism, and warfare seem petty and childish. Such an extraterrestrial discovery could unite humanity and pose a threat to despotic rulers whose power relies on manufacturing “us vs. them” conflicts.

(I agree.)


5. The Pessimistic View:

A despotic ruler thrives on controlling information and manipulating fear. An alien intelligence could become the ultimate propaganda tool.

A dictator might claim that the aliens pose a demonic threat, justifying crackdowns and military expansion to “protect” the populace.

They could also claim that the aliens have endorsed their rule, creating a new “divine right” to govern after such an extraterrestrial discovery.

The discovery could trigger an unimaginably high-stakes Cold War, where nations fight not for territory or resources but for control of communication channels and any technological secrets the aliens might reveal.


(Well, that’s why we have HAM radio operators and satellite dishes.)