Scientists in the US have uncovered a rare quantum material capable of switching between two distinct electronic states on demand, which could open the door for faster computer chips and adaptive sensors.
Led by the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), the team identified the new, switchable quantum property in a new type of nickel sulfide material, known as KxNi4S2 (0 ≤ x ≤ 1).
The compound reportedly features nickel and sulfur sandwiched between layers of potassium, which can be present in varying amounts from zero to one, based on the sample.
“You can tune how much potassium comes out of the material, from full to empty and everything in between,” Mercouri Kanatzidis, PhD, a Northwestern University professor who led the research, said.
Kanatzidis noted that the material can switch between quantum states within the same structure. “I cannot name another material that can do this – if one exists, it is not well known,” he added.
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