Neutrons Zero in on the Elusive Magnetic Majorana Fermion
Thursday, June 8, 2017 - 15:02
in Physics & Chemistry
Neutron scattering has revealed in unprecedented detail new insights into the exotic magnetic behavior of a material that could pave the way for quantum calculations far beyond the limits of a computer's binary code. A research team led by the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory has confirmed magnetic signatures likely related to Majorana fermions--elusive particles that could be the basis for a quantum bit, or qubit, in a two-dimensional graphene-like material, alpha-ruthenium trichloride. The results, published in the journal Science, verify and extend a 2016 Nature Materials study in which the team first proposed this unusual behavior in the material.