Pressure transforms a semiconductor into a new state of matter
Thursday, December 12, 2013 - 07:30
in Physics & Chemistry
(Phys.org) —By applying pressure to a semiconductor, researchers have been able to transform a semiconductor into a "topological insulator" (TI), an intriguing state of matter in which a material's interior is insulating but its surfaces or edges are conducting with unique electrical properties. This is the first time that researchers have used pressure to gradually "tune" a material into the TI state; as such, the study gives scientists a new route for discovery as they search for TIs that could be used in advanced electronics applications.