Topological materials are condensed-matter systems whose electronic or quasiparticle excitations are characterized by nontrivial topological invariants in momentum space, leading to robust boundary or defect states protected by symmetries such as time-reversal, crystalline, or particle–hole symmetry. Their bulk band structure exhibits features like band inversion and topological band gaps, enabling phenomena such as dissipationless edge or surface conduction, Dirac or Weyl fermions, and Majorana bound states. As physical systems, they serve as platforms for studying topological phases of matter, spin–orbit coupling effects, and emergent gauge fields, with relevance to quantum transport, spintronics, and topological quantum computation.
In magnetic materials with antisymmetric exchange interactions, novel particle-like spin textures called magnetic skyrmions can appear and be manipulated by electrons. First observed in 2009, they have been created and controlled ...
Nanophysics
Nov 18, 2025
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Topological insulators could form the basis for revolutionary electronic components. However, as they generally only function at very low temperatures, their practical application has been severely limited to date. Researchers ...
Condensed Matter
Oct 27, 2025
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91
Graphene, which is comprised of a single layer of carbon atoms arranged in a hexagonal lattice, is a widely used material known for its advantageous electrical and mechanical properties. When graphene is stacked in a so-called ...
Superconductors (materials that conduct electricity without resistance) have fascinated physicists for more than a century. While conventional superconductors are well understood, a new class of materials known as topological ...
Condensed Matter
Oct 9, 2025
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94
Silicides—alloys of silicon and metals long used in microelectronics—are now being explored again for quantum hardware. But their use faces a critical challenge: achieving phase purity, since some silicide phases are superconducting ...
Superconductivity
Oct 3, 2025
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77
A new study addresses a foundational problem in the theory of driven quantum matter by extending the Středa formula to non-equilibrium regimes. It demonstrates that a superficially trivial "sum of zeros" encodes a universal, ...
Condensed Matter
Sep 11, 2025
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317
Magic-angle twisted bilayer graphene (MATBG) is a material created by stacking two sheets of graphene onto each other, with a small twist angle of about 1.1°. At this "magic angle," electrons move very slowly, which can lead ...
A giant anomalous Hall effect (AHE) has been observed in a nonmagnetic material for the first time, as reported by researchers from Japan. This surprising result was achieved using high-quality Cd3As2 thin films, a Dirac ...
Condensed Matter
Aug 28, 2025
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294
RIKEN physicists have created the first thin films featuring a special combination of electrical and topological properties. This demonstration could help to realize new forms of electronics that are highly energy efficient.
Condensed Matter
Aug 27, 2025
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100
Practical fusion power that can provide cheap, clean energy could be a step closer thanks to artificial intelligence. Scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory have developed a deep learning model that accurately ...
