Illustration of topological surface state with energy band gap (IMAGE)
Caption
An illustration depicting a topological surface state with an energy band gap (an energy range where electrons are forbidden) between the apices of the top and corresponding bottom cones (allowed energy bands, or the range of energies electrons are allowed to have). A topological surface state is a unique electronic state, only existing at the surface of a material, that reflects strong interactions between an electron's spin (red arrow) and its orbital motion around an atom's nucleus. When the electron spins align parallel to each another, as they do here, the material has a type of magnetism called ferromagnetism.
Credit
Dan Nevola, Brookhaven National Laboratory
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