Electrons trapped in 3D crystal for first time
The crystal was then turned into a superconductor.
RESEARCHERS AT the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have achieved a world first by trapping electrons in a three-dimensional crystal.
Usually, electrons move freely through conducting materials. They bump into each other, but their overall movements are independent of those of other electrons. Researchers have previously trapped electrons in 2D materials, and now this new study – published in Nature – has successfully trapped electrons in a pure crystal of pyrochlore, a highly symmetric mineral. The team used interconnected triangular, hexagonal 2D lattices to synthesise a Kagome-like pattern in 3D.
As the electrons settle into the same energy state they begin to behave as one. This state is known as an electronic flat band, and is thought to be the result of the electrons “feeling” the quantum effects of the other electrons in the crystal.
The researchers believe the electrons in this ‘zombified’ state could act in coordinated, quantum ways. The resulting exotic behaviours that may emerge from this state (such as superconductivity and unique forms of magnetism) could result in ultraefficient power lines, a new basis for quantum computing and smarter electronic devices.
“This presents a new paradigm to think about how to find new and interesting quantum materials,” says co-author Riccardo Comin, a physicist at MIT.