The first ever photograph of a Wigner Crystal, a bizarre honeycomb-pattern material that is entirely made of electrons, has been taken by physicists.
Eugene Wigner, a Hungarian physicist, first described this crystal in 1934. However scientists have had to wait more than eight decades before they can finally see the "electronice".
The first image is a fascinating example of electrons being pressed together to form a tight repeating pattern, similar to tiny blue butterflies wings or pressings from an alien clover.
Researchers behind the study, which was published in Nature on September 29th, stated that although it is not the first time that Wigner crystals have been created or their properties examined, the visual evidence that they collected is the strongest proof yet of its existence.
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Feng Wang, a University of California physicist, said, "If you claim you have an electron-crystal, show me the crystal."
Ordinary conductors such as silver and copper or semiconductors such as silicon have electrons that move so fast they can barely interact with one another. At very low temperatures they slow to a crawl and the repulsion of the negatively charged electrons starts to dominate.
To minimize their energy consumption, once mobile particles come to a halt and form a honeycomb-like pattern.
The researchers captured electrons between the atom-thick layers one tungsten dioxide and the other tungsten dielenide to see the phenomenon in action.
After applying an electric field to the gap to eliminate any potential disruptive excess electrons from the gap, researchers chilled the electron sandwich to 5 degrees above absolute 0.
The once-fast electrons stopped moving and settled into the repeating structure a Wigner Crystal.
To view the new crystal, researchers used a scanner tunneling microscope (STM). STMs are made by running a very thin metal tip across a material. This causes electrons to jump down to the material's surface.
Researchers can measure current flowing into the surface at each point to get a picture of Braille-like contours. This will determine the rate electrons travel from the tip and what is underneath them.
The current from the STM was too strong for the delicate electron-ice and "melted" it on contact. The researchers placed a single-atom layer graphene above the Wigner Crystal to stop it from melting. This allowed the crystal to interact and leave an impression that the STM could read like a photocopier.
The STM took the first photograph of the Wigner crystal by completely tracing the image on graphene sheets. This proved its existence beyond any doubt.
Scientists now have strong evidence that Wigner crystals are real. They can now use these crystals to probe deeper questions about how electrons interact, such as how the crystals "melt" and why they arrange themselves in honeycomb order.
These answers will provide rare insight into some of the most mysterious properties of tiny particles.
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