A team of Duke University engineers has created a master "ingredient list" describing the properties of more than 2,000 compounds that might be combined to create the next generation of quantum electronics devices.
The goal is topological insulators (TI), man-made crystals that are able to conduct electrical current on their surfaces, while acting as insulators throughout the interior of the crystal. Discovering TIs has become of great interest to scientists, but because of the lack of a rational blueprint for creating them, researchers have had to rely on trial-and-error approaches, with limited success to date.
Because of their unique properties, TIs can be created that conduct electricity more efficiently while also being much smaller that conventional wires or devices. They are ideal candidates to become quantum electronics devices, the Duke researchers said.
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