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Category: materials – Page 15

First observation of non-reciprocal Coulomb drag in Chern insulators reported

He Qinglin’s group at the Center for Quantum Materials Science, School of Physics, has reported the first observation of non-reciprocal Coulomb drag in Chern insulators. This breakthrough opens new pathways for exploring Coulomb interactions in magnetic topological systems and enhances our understanding of quantum states in such materials. The work was published in Nature Communications.

Coulomb arises when a current in one conductor induces a measurable voltage in a nearby, electrically insulated conductor via long-range Coulomb interactions.

Chern insulators are magnetic topological materials that show a quantized Hall effect without , due to intrinsic magnetization and chiral edge states.

Pressure-responsive, layered semiconductor shows potential for next-gen data storage

A squishy, layered material that dramatically transforms under pressure could someday help computers store more data with less energy.

That’s according to a new study by researchers at Washington State University and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte that shows a hybrid zinc telluride-based material can undergo surprising structural changes when squeezed together like a molecular sandwich. Those changes could make it a strong candidate for , a type of ultra-fast, long-lasting data storage that works differently than the memory found in today’s devices and doesn’t need a constant power source.

The research was made possible by a X-ray diffraction system that was acquired in 2022. This specialized equipment lets researchers observe tiny structural changes in the material as they happened—all from WSU’s Pullman campus. Usually, these kinds of experiments require time at massive national facilities like the Advanced Light Source at Berkeley National Laboratory in California.

One Material, Four Behaviors: Superconductor, Metal, Semiconductor, and Insulator

RIKEN scientists have discovered how to manipulate molybdenum disulfide into acting as a superconductor, metal, semiconductor, or insulator using a specialized transistor technique.

By inserting potassium ions and adjusting conditions, they could trigger dramatic changes in the material’s electronic state—unexpectedly even turning it into a superconductor or insulator. This new level of control over a single 2D material could unlock exciting breakthroughs in next-gen electronics and superconductivity research.

Unlocking versatility in a single material.

At the Magic Angle, a Mysterious Vibration Emerges — And It Might Explain Superconductivity

Scientists have unveiled a cutting-edge quantum microscope that allows them to observe how electrons interact with strange atomic vibrations in twisted graphene, including a newly revealed “phason.” This phenomenon could help explain mysterious behaviors like superconductivity in materials rotate

Designer-defect mediated clamping of ferroelectric domain walls for more stable nanoelectronics

A UNSW study published today in Nature Communications presents an exciting step towards domain-wall nanoelectronics: a novel form of future electronics based on nano-scale conduction paths, and which could allow for extremely dense memory storage.

FLEET researchers at the UNSW School of Materials Science and Engineering have made an important step in solving the technology’s primary long-standing challenge of information stability.

Domain walls are “atomically sharp” separating regions of uniform in .