Bismuth shows novel conducting propertiesA team of international scientists including Maia G. Vergni

Bismuth shows novel conducting properties

A team of international scientists including Maia G. Vergniory, Ikerbasque researcher at DIPC and UPV/EHU associate, has discovered a new class of materials, higher-order topological insulators. Theoretical physicists first predicted the existence of these insulators, which have conducting properties on the edges of crystals rather than on their surfaces, and conduct electricity without dissipation. Now, these novel properties are demonstrated experimentally in bismuth.
The current flows without resistance and responds in unconventional ways to electric and magnetic fields. These unique properties have future applications in high-performance electronics and quantum computation.
Higher-order topological insulators
Recently, a new class of topological materials with novel conducting properties was predicted by a group of physicists from Donostia International Physics Center (DIPC), the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), UZH, Princeton University and Max Planck Institute of Microstructure Physics. The researchers refer to it as a “higher-order topological insulator.”