Columbia Researchers Observe Exotic Quantum Particle in Bilayer Graphene (IMAGE)

Columbia University School of Engineering and Applied Science

Columbia Researchers Observe Exotic Quantum Particle in Bilayer Graphene

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The so-called 5/2 state has confounded scientists for several decades. While all known particles in the universe are classified as either bosons or fermions, the 5/2 state, which emerges only in a 2-D electron gas under large magnetic fields, is thought to be an exotic new type of particle that doesn't fit either description. Previously this state has been observed only in the highest mobility semiconductor heterostructures when cooled to milikelvin temperatures, making it challenging to confirm its expected properties. Recently however, researchers at Columbia found evidence of an equivalent state in bilayer graphene, appearing at temperatures more than 10 times larger than in conventional systems.

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Cory Dean/Columbia University

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