A massless particle that eluded scientists for 85 years has
been discovered and it could pave the way for faster and more efficient
electronics and new types of quantum computing.
An international team led by Princeton University scientists
has discovered Weyl fermions theorized 85 years ago.
The researchers reported in the journal Science the
first observation of Weyl fermions, which, if applied to next-generation
electronics, could allow for a nearly free and efficient flow of electricity in
electronics, and thus greater power, especially for computers.
Proposed by the mathematician and
physicist Hermann Weyl in 1929, Weyl fermions have been long sought by
scientists because they have been regarded as possible building blocks of other
subatomic particles.
Their basic nature means that Weyl
fermions could provide a much more stable and efficient transport of
particles than electrons, which are the principle particle behind modern electronics.
Unlike electrons, Weyl fermions are
massless and possess a high degree of mobility; the particle’s spin is both in
the same direction as its motion – which is known as being right-handed – and
in the opposite direction in which it moves, or left-handed.
“The physics of the Weyl fermion are
so strange, there could be many things that arise from this particle that we’re
just not capable of imagining now,” said corresponding author M Zahid Hasan, a
Princeton professor of physics who led the research team.
The researchers’ find differs from the
other particle discoveries in that the Weyl fermion can be reproduced and
potentially applied, Hasan said.
Typically, particles such as the
famous Higgs boson are detected in the fleeting aftermath of particle collisions,
he said.
The Weyl fermion, however, was
discovered inside a synthetic metallic crystal called tantalum arsenide that
the Princeton researchers designed in collaboration with researchers at the
Collaborative Innovation Center of Quantum Matter in Beijing and at National Taiwan
University.
The Weyl fermion possesses two
characteristics that could make its discovery a boon for future electronics,
including the development of the highly prized field of efficient quantum
computing, Hasan said.
For a physicist, the Weyl fermions are
most notable for behaving like a composite of monopole- and anti-monopole like
particles when inside a crystal, Hasan said.
This means that Weyl particles that
have opposite magnetic-like charges can nonetheless move independently of one
another with a high degree of mobility.
The researchers also found that Weyl
fermions can be used to create massless electrons that move very quickly with
no backscattering, wherein electrons are lost when they collide with an
obstruction. In electronics, backscattering hinders efficiency and
generates heat.
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