Physicists create exotic electron liquid

Nanowerk  February 4, 2019
Researchers at UC Riverside constructed an ultrathin sandwich of the semiconductor molybdenum ditelluride between layers of graphene and bombarded the material with superfast laser pulses. They detected evidence of condensation into the equivalent of a liquid. As they turned up the amount of energy being dumped into the system, they saw the formation of an ‘anomalous photocurrent ring’ in the material. It grew like a droplet, rather than behaving like a gas. The research opens a pathway for development of practical and efficient devices to generate and detect light at terahertz wavelengths. Such devices could be used in applications as diverse as communications in outer space, cancer detection, and scanning for concealed weapons…read more. TECHNICAL ARTICLE

Electrons (blue) and holes (red) condense into liquid droplets akin to liquid water in devices composed of ultrathin materials. (Image: UC Riverside)

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