Physicists have directly visualized the fundamental electronic building blocks of flat-band quantum materials, a class of systems in which electron motion is effectively quenched and strong interactions give rise to emergent phases of matter. In a study published in Nature Physics, Qimiao Si’s group at Rice University, in collaboration with researchers at the Weizmann Institute of Science, identified compact molecular orbitals that act as the key electronic agents governing the exotic behavior of these materials.

“In flat band materials, electron motion experiences destructive interference,” said Si, the Harry C. and Olga K. Wiess Professor of Physics and Astronomy and director of Rice’s Extreme Quantum Materials Alliance.

These flat band materials are also topological with properties that are preserved as the material continuously bends or stretches in any symmetry-preserving way.