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Researchers Find Semimetal That Clings to a Quantum Precipice
Scientists studying a special kind of semimetals have found a material with an unusually pristine nature that could be crucial for developing powerful new quantum technologies and discovering new phases of matter.
In an open access paper published in Science Advances, Johns Hopkins physicists and colleagues at Rice University, the Vienna University of Technology (TU Wien), and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), present experimental evidence of naturally occurring quantum criticality in a material.
Criticality is the point at which a material hovers between two phases-like the slushy transition between water and ice-without ever settling. Useful materials often exploit this point. For example, air conditioners use compressors to change refrigerant from gas to liquid, and the “liquid crystals” of a commonplace liquid crystal display (LCD) are situated at a transition between liquid a
Pristine quantum criticality found
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How acidic are atoms?
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Real ivory on the left, 3D-printed Digory material on the right. Photo Credit: Vienna University of Technology
Most of us love the look and feel of ivory, but we hate the source: the tusks (traditionally elephants’) and teeth of animals, which has led to widespread animal slaughter over the centuries.
And while the ivory trade was banned internationally in 1989 to protect elephant populations, there is still a demand for the hard, white material, both to restore ivory parts of old art objects and also to create new objects with the same look and feel. Substitute materials such as bones, shells and plastic have all be used, but the results vary.