Our understanding of how electrons behave in quantum materials is being challenged by a recent experiment. Researchers have found that electrons in two-dimensional layers of a material behave as if they are in a single-dimensional state.
The senior author of the paper said that it was a new horizon. A new type of metallic state was created with this experiment.
Our understanding of the behavior of electrons in metals can be described by a theory that works well with two- and three-dimensional systems, but breaks down when describing the interaction of electrons in a singleDIMENSION.
The majority of the metals are described in this theory. It states that electrons in metal should behave like free electrons, except that they may have different values in some characteristic quantities.
The Luttinger liquid theory describes the interaction between electrons in one-dimensional systems.
"Luttinger liquid theory is a good starting point to understand how electrons interact in one dimensions." electrons in a one-dimensional lattice are correlated with one another so that they don't act like free electrons
L.D. Landau was the first to propose the idea of the liquid theory. Luttinger's theory took a long time to become accepted by physicists. J.M. Luttinger independently formulated a theoretical model that was proposed by Shinichiro Tomonaga in the 1950's.
An inadequate solution was provided by Luttinger and so Lieb took up the challenge and provided a correct solution. Haldane used the model in 1981 to understand the effects of one-dimensional metals. The modern theory of Luttinger liquids is based on Haldane's creation of the term "Luttinger liquids".
The Luttinger liquid theory is one of the two theories that have been central to our understanding of the behavior of electrons.
It has been suggested that the interactions of electrons are more complex than we think. The behavior of electrons in two-dimensional systems, on rare occasions, could follow the predictions of Luttinger liquid theory, according to Philip Anderson. Anderson wondered if the electrons in two-dimensional systems could behave as Luttinger liquids if they were in a one-dimensional system.
This was not a realistic scenario. There were no experiments that were related to these cases.
It has been this way until now.
When electrons in a specially created two-dimensional material structure were cooled to very low temperatures, they suddenly behaved like Luttinger liquid theory predicted. They were acting in a one-dimensional state.
The material used in the experiment was called WTE 2. Semimetals have intermediate properties that place them between metals and insulators. The Russell Wellman Moore Professor of Chemistry and the assistant professor of chemistry at Princeton created a group of researchers to create a group of crystals. Two of the single atomic layers of this material were stacked vertically for the study.
"We used an angle twist of either 5 or 6 degrees to stack monolayers of tungsten ditelluride on top of one another." A large rectangular lattice was created, which resembled a French textile design.
The twist angle was supposed to affect the other quantum phenomena in the ditelluride. They were surprised by what they found.
We were confused by the results. However, it turned out to be correct.
electrons congregated strongly into a linear array indicative of electrons in a one-dimensional system
There is a two-dimensional metallic state that is not described in the standard theory. The Luttinger liquid theory describes a completely new electronic phase of matter.
The paper's co-first author, a graduate student in electrical and computer engineering, described the material's properties as being switchable between uniform in all directions or varying strongly in physical properties.
Unlike most of the other monolayer materials and their superlattices which are isotropic, the moiré pattern in our sample is crucial to hosting the one-dimensional.
It sounds like a new metallic phase could have many practical applications. Additional work needs to be done before such applications can be realized.
The future is something thatWu is positive about. He said that it could help open up a new window to look at novel quantum phases of matter. A lot of new findings will come out of this research in the future.
More information: Pengjie Wang et al, One-dimensional Luttinger liquids in a two-dimensional moiré lattice, Nature (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-04514-6 Journal information: Nature
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