In a new study, a team of scientists identified how electrons “freeze” in strange geometric crystals and then “melt” and move again like a liquid — and even discovered a new state of matter, in which some electrons remain fixed while others move freely.
The electricity it’s everywhere: Powers cars, cell phones, computers and more. All thanks to the movement of electrons in circuits.
Although we can’t see them, electrons flow in a conductor like water in a pipe, generating electricity.
But Certain materials can “freeze” this flow of electrons into crystalline forms. The material stops being conductive and becomes an insulator, blocking electricity.
This phenomenon allows scientists to observe complex electron behaviors and paves the way for new technologiessuch as quantum computing, advanced superconductivity, medical imaging, lighting and high-precision atomic clocks.
In a new study, scientists at Florida State University (FSU) have now demonstrated how to stabilize a phase of matter, called “generalized Wigner crystal“, in which the electrons form a solid crystalline lattice, but manage to “melt” to a liquid state.
The results of the study were presented in a recently published in npj Quantum Materials.
In two-dimensional systems, electrons can form Wigner crystalswhich were theoretically predicted in 1934. Recent experiments have confirmed their existence, but It was not known how these states emerged with the additional effects of quantum mechanics.
“We identified the right ‘quantum buttons’ to trigger this transition and create generalized Wigner crystals”explains Hitesh Changlaniresearcher at FSU and main author of the article, in one from the university.
“Generalized Wigner crystals differ from traditional crystals because they can form varied patternslike stripes or honeycombs, and not just a triangular network”, adds the researcher.
Scientists have also discovered a new state of matterwhere conductive and insulating properties coexist. The generalized Wigner crystal can partially “melt”: some electrons remain fixed, others move through the system, like a ball traveling through pins in a pinball machine.
“It’s a very exciting phase of matter”, says the co-author of the study Cyprian Lewandowskialso a researcher and assistant professor at FSU. “Some electrons want to freeze, others want to float. This is the first time that this quantum effect has been observed at this electron density.”
This study helps scientists understand how to manipulate states of matter.
“What makes something insulating, conductive or magnetic? Can we change one state to another?”, asks Lewandowski. “We want to predict where certain states exist and how they move from one to another. It’s like turning water into steambut with ‘quantum buttons’ that control transitions in electrons”.
According to the team of researchers, better understanding this cooperative behavior of electrons can lead to innovative applications in quantum, superconducting and atomic technologies.
