‘Holy grail discovery’ in solid-state physics could usher in new technologies

 

International Conference on Condensed Matter Physics
There are many mysteries still to unravel in the world of quantum mechanics, but scientists at Northeastern believe they’ve made a “holy grail” discovery that could help pave the way for the next generation of electronic devices. 

Their findings, published recently in Nature, center mostly on the discovery of a so-called topological axion insulator, a unique state of quantum matter of which researchers previously only theorized existed, according to physicist Arun Bansil, who led a team of researchers at Northeastern involved in the study. There were several dozen scientists from universities around the world involved in the project.

This axion insulating state was realized, Bansil says, by combining certain metals and observing their magnetoelectric response. In this case, researchers used a solid state chip composed of manganese bismuth telluride, which were adhered together in two-dimensional layers, to measure the resulting electric and magnetic properties.

Researchers note that such a finding has implications for a range of technologies, including sensors, switches, computers, and memory storage devices, among many others. The “storage, transportation, and manipulation of magnetic data could become much faster, more robust, and energy-efficient” if scientists can integrate these new topological materials into future devices, the researchers write. 

“It’s like discovering a new element,” Bansil says. “And we know there’s going to be all sorts of interesting applications for this.”






#SolidStatePhysics and #NewTechnologies could be relevant for this headline. Other possible hashtags could include #Breakthrough, #ScientificDiscovery, #MaterialsScience, and #TechnologyAdvancement.



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