Electricity is powered by electrons, each carrying a single negative charge. This fundamental concept is widely accepted in the field of physics and is prevalent in most natural materials.
Physicists have long observed the “fractional quantum Hall effect” under carefully controlled, high magnetic fields. However, recent breakthroughs have shown this effect in materials that do not require such intense magnetic manipulation.
MIT physicists have made a groundbreaking discovery by observing the fractional charge effect in a simpler material: five layers of graphene. Graphene, an atom-thin layer of carbon derived from graphite and pencil lead, naturally provides the ideal conditions for electrons to pass through as fractions of their total charge, without the need for an external magnetic field.
This marks the first evidence of the “fractional quantum anomalous Hall effect” in crystalline graphene, a surprising revelation for physicists who did not anticipate this effect in this material.
2024-02-22 02:00:04
Source from phys.org