A team at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering (UChicago PME) found that electrons in Fe5GeTe2 can enter a charge-ordered state where they move collectively, remain quantum coherent, and travel far more slowly than expected.
The result could force scientists to rethink how magnetism works in this material. It may also offer a new way to store information by switching between distinct electronic and magnetic states.
“This is a fundamental discovery that deviates from theoretical predictions,” said Shuolong Yang, an assistant professor at UChicago PME. “We now have to go back and think about the magnetic interactions of this material from scratch, but it also leads to new possibilities in using this material for new kinds of memory devices.”
The research was published in Science Advances.
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