Browse Physics

The fractional quantum Hall effect, thought to be special to two dimensions, may also flourish in three, providing a possible explanation for anomalies observed in certain 3D materials in high magnetic fields.

The 1947 invention of the transistor, which made the microchip revolution possible, occurred in spite of a fierce rivalry between the inventors and their boss.

A quantum dot refrigerator that cools an electron gas close to $100\text{mK}$ may allow experimentalists to better probe electron-electron interactions in quantum confined systems.

Random disorder in topological insulators leads to an insulating phase reminiscent of one known for years in two-dimensional systems.

The finding of one-dimensional, topologically protected conducting states on the surface of bismuth suggests the possibility of a quantum spin Hall effect in one dimension.

Measurements of the heat transport at the edges of two-dimensional electron systems appear to provide explanations about the quantum Hall state that have not been forthcoming via charge transport experiments.

The esoteric concept of “axions” was born thirty years ago to describe the strong interaction between quarks. It appears that the same physics—though in a much different context—applies to an unusual class of insulators.

The transport anomalies found in a bismuth alloy under moderate magnetic field might be the signature of unexpected many-body physics.

Researchers measured the interaction between surface plasmons–electron waves on metal surfaces–with excitons, excited states of electrons in semiconductors. Understanding the communication between the two could improve solar cells and speed up electronic and optical devices.

A new study is looking at how disorder affects the conducting states in a topological insulator—revealing one of many ways these unusual materials are different from conventional insulators.

Metallic contacts, which are unavoidable in any connection to an experimental measurement, cause asymmetries in the conductance of electrons and holes in graphene.

Electrons in graphene can be described by the relativistic Dirac equation for massless fermions and exhibit a host of unusual properties. The surfaces of certain band insulators—called topological insulators—can be described in a similar way, leading to an exotic metallic surface on an otherwise “ordinary” insulator.

Researchers directly imaged the motion of charge carriers in a semiconductor junction, the basic element of a transistor.

Holes–the spaces left behind by electrons in semiconductors–can crystallize under the right conditions, according to computer simulations.

A fluid-based transistor conducts either positive or negative ion currents in water and might be part of future integrated circuits in miniature medical diagnosis devices.

The wave nature of electrons could be used to detect tiny motions.

A few hundred atoms of silicon can form a novel not-quite-crystalline solid, theorists predict.

Researchers have generated the first direct images of the motion of a single exciton, a particle that is essential to modern electronics.

Using ultrafast laser pulses, researchers have recorded a structural change in a crystal that takes only a few hundred femtoseconds.

Physicists have made the first direct measurements of the force exerted by a single atom in a solid.