The discovery of superconductivity in two ever-so-slightly twisted layers of Graphene made waves a few years ago. Researchers discovered a simple device to study the resistance-free flow of electricity and other phenomena with just two sheets of carbon.
For the phenomena to be observed, the angle of twist between the two layers has to be just right. The atoms in the layers want to resist the twist and relax back to a zero angle. Superconductivity and magic angles disappear.
Adding a third layer of Graphene improves the odds of finding superconductivity. New details about the physical structure of trilayer graphene help explain why three layers are better than two for studying superconductivity.
The team used a microscope to look at individual atoms and saw that some of them were joining up into something called a twist.
The device for the study was built by Swann and he said it was an encouraging result.
A better understanding of the origins of superconductivity could help researchers develop wires that won't lose energy as they conduct electricity.
If we can control the angle mismatch between the top and bottom layers of the device, we can do systematic studies of their quantum mechanics.
More information: Simon Turkel, Joshua Swann, et al. Orderly disorder in magic-angle twisted trilayer graphene. Science 376, 193-199 (2022) DOI: 10.1126/science.abk1895 Journal information: Science Citation: In a sea of magic angles, 'twistons' keep electrons flowing through three layers of graphene (2022, April 8) retrieved 8 April 2022 from https://phys.org/news/2022-04-sea-magic-angles-twistons-electrons.html This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.
All Rights Reserved © 2024
