PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Scientists discover new quantum state at the intersection of exotic materials

The finding could lead to advanced technological applications and new quantum devices

2025-07-31
(Press-News.org) Scientists have discovered a new way that matter can exist – one that is different from the usual states of solid, liquid, gas or plasma – at the interface of two exotic, materials made into a sandwich.

The new quantum state, called quantum liquid crystal, appears to follow its own rules and offers characteristics that could pave the way for advanced technological applications, the scientists said.

Reporting in the journal Science Advances, a Rutgers-led team of researchers described an experiment that focused on the interaction between a conducting material called the Weyl semimetal and an insulating magnetic material known as spin ice when both are subjected to an extremely high magnetic field. Both materials individually are known for their unique and complex properties.

“Although each material has been extensively studied, their interaction at this boundary has remained entirely unexplored,” said Tsung-Chi Wu, who earned his doctoral degree in June from the Rutgers graduate program in physics and astronomy and is the first author of the study. “We observed new quantum phases that emerge only when these two materials interact. This creates a new quantum topological state of matter at high magnetic fields, which was previously unknown.”

The team discovered that at the interface of these two materials, the electronic properties of the Weyl semimetal are influenced by the magnetic properties of the spin ice. This interaction leads to a very rare phenomenon called “electronic anisotropy” where the material conducts electricity differently in different directions. Within a circle of 360 degrees, the conductivity is lowest at six specific directions, they found. Surprisingly, when the magnetic field is increased, the electrons suddenly start flowing in two opposite directions.

This discovery is consistent with a characteristic seen in the quantum phenomenon known as rotational symmetry breaking and indicates the occurrence of a new quantum phase at high magnetic fields.

The findings are significant because they reveal new ways in which the properties of materials can be controlled and manipulated, Wu said. By understanding how electrons move in these special materials, scientists could potentially design new generations of ultra-sensitive quantum sensors of magnetic fields that work best in extreme conditions – such as in space or inside powerful machines.

Weyl semimetals are materials that allow electricity to flow in unusual ways with very high speed and zero energy loss because of special relativistic quasi-particles called Weyl fermions. Spin ice, on the other hand, are magnetic materials where the magnetic moments (tiny magnetic fields within the material) are arranged in a way that resembles the positions of hydrogen atoms in ice. When these two materials are combined, they create a heterostructure, composed of atomic layers of dissimilar materials.

Scientists have found that new states of matter appear under extreme conditions, including very low temperatures, high pressures or high magnetic fields, and behave in strange and fascinating ways. Experiments such as the Rutgers-led one may lead to new, fundamental understanding of matter beyond the naturally occurring four states of matter, according to Wu.

“This is just the beginning,” Wu said. “There are multiple possibilities for exploring new quantum materials and their interactions when combined into a heterostructure. We hope our work will also inspire the physics community to explore these exciting new frontiers.”

The research was conducted using a combination of experimental techniques, led by the principal investigator for the project, Jak Chakhalian, the Claud Lovelace Endowed Professor of Experimental Physics in the Department of Physics and Astronomy and a co-author of the study. The work was theoretically supported by Jedediah Pixley, an associate professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, also a co-author of the study.

“The experiment-theory collaboration is what really makes the work possible,” Wu said. “It took us more than two years to understand the experimental results. The credit goes to the state-of-the-art theoretical modeling and calculations done by the Pixley group, particularly Jed Pixley and Yueqing Chang, a postdoctoral researcher. We are continuing our collaboration to push the frontier of the field as a Rutgers team.”

Most of the experiments were conducted at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory (MagLab) in Tallahassee, Fla., which provided the unique conditions to study these materials at ultra-low temperatures and high magnetic fields.

“We had to initiate the collaboration and travel to the MagLab multiple times to perform these experiments, each time refining ideas and methods," Wu said. “The ultra-low temperatures and high magnetic fields were crucial for observing these new phenomena.”

The research builds on previous Rutgers-led research published earlier this year by Chakhalian, Mikhail Kareev, Wu and other physicists. The report described how four years of continuous experimentation led to a novel method to design and build a unique, tiny, atoms-thick structure composed of a Weyl semimetal and spin ice. The quantum heterostructure was so difficult to create, the scientists developed a machine to make it: the Q-DiP, short for quantum phenomena discovery platform.

“In that paper, we described how we made the heterostructure,” said Chakhalian. “The new Science Advances paper is about what it can do.”

In addition to Chakhalian, Wu, Chang and Pixley, Rutgers researchers on the study included Ang-Kun Wu, Michael Terilli, Fangdi Wen and Mikhail Kareev.

Explore more of the ways Rutgers research is shaping the future

END


ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Healthy food systems: Microbial map reveals countless hidden connections between our food, health, and planet

2025-07-31
*Embargoed paper available on request*  Published in Frontiers in Science, the map of ‘agri-food system microbiomes’ reveals how players at every stage of the food system can restore and protect dwindling microbiomes to help boost human and planetary health.  When microbiomes are diverse and balanced, they keep our food safe, nutritious, and sustainable, and our planet healthy—but the quality of these networks is declining across the whole system. This can be seen in the uptick of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), crop failures, loss of microbial diversity in soil, water, and the human gut, and ...

Microbiome breakthrough: Gut bacterium may hold key to future treatments for widespread chronic diseases

2025-07-31
Our intestines are home to trillions of microorganisms that produce substances capable of regulating all the body’s organs via the bloodstream and the gut’s nervous system. Yet, only little is known about the effects of most of the bacteria that make up our microbiome. Now, an international team of scientists led by the University of Copenhagen has identified a common specific bacterial strain that may open the door to an entirely new class of therapeutics. This bacterium produces two proteins that partly resemble ...

Turning biodiversity upside down: Conservation maps miss fungal hotspots by focusing on plants

2025-07-31
For decades, scientists and conservationists have been using aboveground plant biodiversity as a metric for conserving ecosystems. Now a new study finds that there is a major mismatch between aboveground plant diversity and Earth’s underground fungal biodiversity. A new analysis published in Nature Communications on July 31 focused on the biodiversity mismatches between aboveground vegetation and mycorrhizal fungi – a group of underground fungi that form symbiotic relationships with the roots of 90% of land plants. These fungi help regulate the climate and global nutrient cycles, ...

AI at the core: philanthropy fuels EMBL’s strategy

2025-07-31
The European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) has long been a pioneer in developing and applying Artificial Intelligence (AI) to advance genomics, structural biology, and drug discovery. One of the standout examples is AlphaFold – developed by Google DeepMind and trained on data provided by EMBL-EBI and collaborators – which has revolutionised protein structure prediction. With EMBL-EBI’s support, AlphaFold2 predictions were made freely available to researchers worldwide.  Alongside its major contributions to AI in structural biology, EMBL is also leading the way in applying AI to all types of biological data analysis and scientific research, including ...

Synthetic torpor has potential to redefine medicine

2025-07-31
By Beth Miller Nature is often the best model for science. For nearly a century, scientists have been trying to recreate the ability of some mammals and birds to survive extreme environmental conditions for brief or extended periods by going into torpor, when their body temperature and metabolic rate drop, allowing them to preserve energy and heat. Taking inspiration from nature, Hong Chen, professor of biomedical engineering in the McKelvey School of Engineering and of neurosurgery at WashU Medicine, and an interdisciplinary team induced a reversible torpor-like state in mice by using focused ultrasound to stimulate the ...

Are you eligible for a clinical trial? ChatGPT can find out

2025-07-31
A new study in the academic journal Machine Learning: Health discovers that ChatGPT can accelerate patient screening for clinical trials, showing promise in reducing delays and improving trial success rates. Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Centre used ChatGPT to assess whether patients were eligible to take part in clinical trials and were able to identify suitable candidates within minutes. Clinical trials, which test new medications and procedures on the public, are vital for developing and validating new treatments. But many trials struggle to enrol enough participants. According to a recent study, up to 20% of National Cancer Institute (NCI)-affiliated ...

New treatment could reduce brain damage from stroke, study in mice shows

2025-07-31
Cambridge scientists have developed and tested a new drug in mice that has the potential to reduce damage to the brain when blood flow is restored following a stroke. As many as one in four people will have a stroke during their lifetime. This is when a blood clot prevents oxygen from reaching a part of the brain. The first few hours following a stroke are crucial – the blood clot needs to be removed quickly so that the oxygen supply to the brain can be restored; otherwise, the brain tissue begins to die. Currently, the outcome for stroke patients receiving even the best available ...

4,000-year-old teeth record the earliest traces of people chewing psychoactive betel nuts

2025-07-31
In south-east Asia, betel nut chewing has been practiced since antiquity. The plants contain compounds that enhance the consumer’s alertness, energy, euphoria, and relaxation. Although the practice is becoming less common in modern times, it has been deeply embedded in social and cultural traditions for thousands of years. Chewing betel nuts typically results in dark, reddish-brown to black stained teeth. Yet, teeth without staining may not mean that people didn’t chew betel nuts. Now, using a new method, an international team ...

Efficient solar harvesting even in high humidity

2025-07-31
The Energy & Environment Materials Research Division of the Korea Institute of Materials Science (KIMS), led by Dr. Dong-chan Lim and Dr. So-yeon Kim, has developed a highly durable flexible perovskite solar cell material and fabrication process that remains stable even under high humidity conditions. This breakthrough enables the production of high-efficiency solar cells in ambient air without the need for expensive equipment, offering the potential for significant cost reductions in manufacturing. Perovskite has attracted attention as a next-generation material capable of replacing conventional silicon solar cells due to its excellent light absorption, ...

Heavy drinking raises the risk of undesired pregnancy; cannabis use does not

2025-07-31
A new study has found that, among women with a high desire to avoid becoming pregnant, those who drank heavily had a 50% higher risk of becoming pregnant than those who drank moderately or not at all.  In contrast, participants who used cannabis were no more likely to have an undesired pregnancy than participants who did not use cannabis. From a larger sample of over 2,000 non-pregnant women aged 15-34, researchers identified a subgroup of 936 who didn't want to get pregnant.  Within that subgroup, ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Prevalence, determinants, and time trends of cardiovascular health in the WHO African region

New study finds that, after a heart attack, women have worse prognosis when treated with beta-blockers

CNIC-led REBOOT clinical trial challenges 40-year-old standard of care for heart attack patients

Systolic blood pressure and microaxial flow pump–associated survival in infarct-related cardiogenic shock

Beta blockers, the standard treatment after a heart attack, may offer no benefit for heart attack patients and women can have worse outcomes

High Mountain Asia’s shrinking glaciers linked to monsoon changes

All DRII-ed up: How do plants recover after drought?

Research on stigma says to just ‘shake it off’

Scientists track lightning “pollution” in real time using NASA satellite

Millions of women rely on contraceptives, but new Rice study shows they may do more than just prevent pregnancy

Hot days make for icy weather, Philippine study finds

Roxana Mehran, MD, receives the most prestigious award given by the European Society of Cardiology

World's first clinical trial showing lubiprostone aids kidney function

Capturing language change through the genes

Public trust in elections increases with clear facts

Thawing permafrost raised carbon dioxide levels after the last ice age

New DNA test reveals plants’ hidden climate role

Retinitis pigmentosa mouse models reflect pathobiology of human RP59

Cell’s ‘antenna’ could be key to curing diseases

Tiny ocean partnership between algae and bacteria reveals secrets of evolution

Scientists uncover cellular “toolkit” to reprogram immune cells for cancer therapy

Blocking protein control pathway slows rhabdomyosarcoma growth in mice

2026 Hertz Fellowship Application Now Open

The gut immune system is altered in mouse model of Alzheimer’s, providing a new target for therapeutics

ADHD drugs are being prescribed too quickly to preschoolers

UCLA scientists develop off-the-shelf immunotherapy for metastatic kidney cancer

Extreme heat linked to spike in domestic violence calls in New Orleans, study finds

Mount Sinai-Duke University study identifies DNA variants that increase testosterone production in PCOS patients

Physiology-guided complete revascularization in older patients with myocardial infarction

Metals and sulfate in air pollution mixture may contribute most to asthma hospitalizations

[Press-News.org] Scientists discover new quantum state at the intersection of exotic materials
The finding could lead to advanced technological applications and new quantum devices