The laws of physics at the quantum level can break free from the standard confines of solids, liquids, and gases, and researchers just observed an exotic quantum state of matter – a particular way of particles organizing and behaving themselves.
What's more, it was engineered at room temperature, without the extreme cooling that quantum states usually require.
The results of the experiments, carried out by an international team of researchers, have been published in Science Advances. They point the way to more practical uses of quantum technology in advanced computing systems and sensors.
Part liquid and part solid, the quantum state was created using a tiny light-trapping structure called a microcavity.
As a quantum testbed, the setup has a lot going for it: It's relatively inexpensive, controllable via voltages, and doesn't need a cryogenic fridge.
"Our liquid-crystal microcavities can operate even at temperatures approaching 60 °C (140 °F)," says physicist Wiktor Piecek from the Military University of Technology in Poland.
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