This property could reveal new secrets of superconductivity
In the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, researchers reported that electrons in a three-dimensional material behaved as if only two dimensions of space exist.
While working on a new type of superconductor-a substance in which electrons flow without resistance, used in MRI machines, particle accelerators and some quantum computers-they found something unusual.
Examination with a powerful quantum microscope found that electrons within it disregarded the third dimension and formed perfectly flat stripes.
"Superconducting electrons collapsed spontaneously into this two-dimensional system without any physical or chemical change or specific fabrication," says lead author Carolina Parra, a physicist at the Federico Santa Maria Technical University in Chile.
Physicists had previously speculated that this material might host two-dimensional electron behavior that they could not measure.
The tool measured an effect called quantum tunneling: electrons from inside the microscope tried to sneak into the sample, revealing characteristics of single superconductor atoms and their electrons.
She studies instances in which electrons in extremely thin superconductors form lots of tight-knit islands of particles.
Manoharan's team members observed their electrons self-organizing in the same way-and showing more of this distinctive behavior than seen in materials that scientists purposefully engineer as flat.
Pinpointing electrons' specific actions in a superconductor can also help push the development of superconducting materials forward.
Some of the tight-knit electron groups measured in this study appeared to superconduct when unexpectedly warm.