New quantum switch turns metals into insulators

Most modern electronic devices rely on tiny, finely-tuned electrical currents to process and store information. These currents dictate how fast our computers run, how regularly our pacemakers tick and how securely our money ...

How to control friction in topological insulators

Topological insulators are innovative materials that conduct electricity on the surface, but act as insulators on the inside. Physicists at the University of Basel and the Istanbul Technical University have begun investigating ...

Getting a look under the hood of topological insulators

Certain materials, like copper, conduct electricity very well. Other materials, like glass, do not. A certain kind of material, called a topological insulator, acts partially like one and partially like the other ― it ...

Perfect quantum portal emerges at exotic interface

Researchers at the University of Maryland have captured the most direct evidence to date of a quantum quirk that allows particles to tunnel through a barrier like it's not even there. The result, featured on the cover of ...

Remaining switched on to silicon-based electronics

The difficulty of further increasing the power conversion efficiency of silicon-based components in power electronics seems to indicate that we are reaching the limits of potential advances to this technology. However, a ...

More than a spring-clean for LHC magnets

In April, work began on one of the major projects scheduled for the second long shutdown (LS2) of the CERN accelerators: improving the electrical insulation of over 1200 magnets in the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). To complete ...

'Immunizing' quantum bits so that they can grow up

Quantum computers will process significantly more information at once compared to today's computers. But the building blocks that contain this information – quantum bits, or "qubits" – are way too sensitive to their surroundings ...

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