A novel device now enables scientists to easily adjust the twist between layers of ultra-thin materials, promising significant advances in electronics and optics. This could lead to better transistors and solar cells, and enhance research in quantum computing.
Six years ago, a groundbreaking discovery revolutionized condensed-matter physics: ultra-thin carbon layers, stacked at a slight angle, transformed into superconductors. By adjusting the twist angle between the layers, researchers found they could control the material’s electrical properties. This discovery, detailed in a landmark 2018 paper on “magic-angle graphene superlattices,” gave rise to a new field known as “twistronics.” The study’s first author was Yuan Cao, then a graduate student at MIT and later a Harvard Junior Fellow.
Building on this pioneering work, Cao, along with Harvard physicists Amir Yacoby, Eric Mazur, and their colleagues, developed a more efficient method to manipulate and study a wide range of materials, paving the way for further advancements in twistronics research.
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