The hardness of a material normally is set by the strength of chemical bonds between electrons of neighboring atoms, not by freely flowing conduction electrons. Now a team of scientists has shown that ...

A model system created by stacking a pair of monolayer semiconductors is giving physicists a simpler way to study confounding quantum behavior, from heavy fermions to exotic quantum phase transitions.

How it works Schematic showing how a five-electron droplet (shown in blue) is transported inside the selected potential minimum of a SAW. Electrostatic gates (yellow) are used to guide the electron ...

The hardness of materials is determined by the strength of the chemical bonds that are formed between the electrons of the neighbouring atoms. For example, the bonds in diamond are very strong, so it ...