Searches for direct pair production of third generation squarks with the ATLAS detector

Naturalness arguments for weak-scale supersymmetry favour supersymmetric partners of the third generation quarks with masses not too far from those of their Standard Model counterparts. Scalar top or bottom quarks with masses less than a few hundred GeV can give rise to direct pair production rates at the LHC that can be observed in the data sample recorded by the ATLAS detector. The talk presents results from searches for direct stop and sbottom production using the full data sample recorded in 2011 at sqrt(s)=7 TeV centre-of-mass energy by the ATLAS experiment at the LHC.