Monday, November 16, 2020

New Material Pushes Limits of Superconductivity’s ‘Cousin’

Recommendable! This could be a breakthrough! On to the Holy Grail of superconductivity!

"... But superconductors aren’t the only game in town. In 2013, for the first time scientists observed a phenomenon known as the quantum anomalous Hall (QAH) effect. Just like in a superconductor, electrons under the QAH effect flow without dissipating energy, albeit via a different mechanism.  ... In a recent paper ... physicists presented a new material consisting of sandwiched layers of bismuth, tellurium and manganese. The material exhibits the QAH effect up to roughly 7 degrees Celsius above absolute zero ... but it’s a giant leap forward from the 2 degrees above absolute zero previously shown for the QAH effect. ... Rather than adding impurities to a material in a scattershot way, they carefully put down alternating layers of bismuth telluride — through which the electrons flow — and a manganese compound, which provides the magnetism. In addition to producing the QAH effect at higher temperatures than ever before, the new material is a metal rather than a topological insulator. This marks the first time a metal has been used to bring about the QAH effect, meaning the phenomenon can occur in more types of materials than previously demonstrated. ..."

New Material Pushes Limits of Superconductivity’s ‘Cousin’

Here is the respective research paper:

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