Newly observed phenomenon could lead to new quantum devices

Amazing stuff!

"The way electrons interact with phonons ... determines the physical processes that take place inside many electronic devices. These interactions affect the way metals resist electric current, the temperature at which some materials suddenly become superconductors, and the very low temperature requirements for quantum computers, among many other processes.

But electron-phonon interactions have been difficult to study in detail because they are generally very weak. The new study has found a new, stronger kind of unusual electron-phonon interaction: The researchers induced a Kohn anomaly, which was previously thought to exist only in metals, in an exotic material called a topological Weyl semimetal."

Newly observed phenomenon could lead to new quantum devices | MIT News Exotic states called Kohn anomalies could offer clues to why some materials have the electronic properties they do.