Researchers at the University of Würzburg have succeeded in detecting exceptionally robust electrical transport in a topological insulator. This could lead to new metrological applications. The work is published in the journal Nature Communications.

Metrology is the science of measurement. Its aim is to ensure that measurement results are comparable and reliable worldwide, for example, in industry or scientific experiments. So-called fundamental constants, or unchanging physical quantities such as the speed of light or Planck’s constant, play an increasingly important role in this context.

As their values are universal, i.e., independent of place and time, they enable the definition of highly stable units and ensure highly reproducible measurement results. Since 2019, the International System of Units, SI (short for Système international d’unités), has been based entirely on these constants.