For the first time, scientists have observed a quasiparticle—referred to as a semi-Dirac fermion—that behaves uniquely: it is massless when moving in one direction but possesses mass when moving in another. First theorized 16 years ago, this quasiparticle was recently identified within a crystal of a semi-metal material known as ZrSiS. Researchers believe this discovery could pave the way for advancements in emerging technologies, including batteries and sensors.
The research team, led by scientists from Penn State and Columbia University, published their findings in the journal Physical Review X.
“This was totally unexpected,” said Yinming Shao, assistant professor of physics at Penn State and lead author on the paper. “We weren’t even looking for a semi-Dirac fermion when we started working with this material, but we were seeing signatures we didn’t understand — and it turns out we had made the first observation of these wild quasiparticles that sometimes move like they have mass and sometimes move like they have none.”
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