Revolutionary insulator-like material also conducts electricity

University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers have made a material that can transition from an electricity-transmitting metal to a nonconducting insulating material without changing its atomic structure.

"This is quite an exciting discovery," says Chang-Beom Eom, professor of materials science and engineering. "We've found a new method of electronic switching."

The new material could lay the groundwork for ultrafast electronic devices. Eom and his international team of collaborators published details of their advance today (Nov. 30, 2018) in the journal Science.