Physicists are learning more about the bizarre behaviour of “strange metals,” which operate outside the normal rules of electricity. An international team of researchers recently conducted an experiment using a strange metal made from an alloy of ytterbium, a rare earth metal, to observe its unusual electrical behaviour. The results were published in the journal Science on March 13th, 2023. Hisao Kobayashi led the experiment with the University of Hyogo and RIKEN in Japan.
The team fired radioactive gamma rays at the strange metal to observe its unusual electrical behaviour. The results revealed unexpected fluctuations in the strange metal’s electrical charge. There are over 1,000 known strange metals, and they are found in alloys of rare earth metals. According to Professor Kobayashi, “The results showed that these strange metals have unique properties that can’t be explained by traditional theories.”
In addition to this discovery, Professor Kobayashi and his team also found that these strange metals can store up to 10 times more energy than traditional materials used for capacitors or batteries. Furthermore, they discovered these strange metals could be used as a new transistor type for faster computing speeds and greater efficiency.
This groundbreaking research has opened up many possibilities for further exploration into the potential applications of these mysterious materials. As Professor Kobayashi said: “We hope our findings will lead to further advances in understanding how these materials work and how they can be applied.”
Theoretical physicist Yashar Komijani, an assistant professor at the University of Cincinnati, contributed to this study. He said that these findings could lead to new technology and materials that can be used for various applications, such as energy storage devices or quantum computers.
“This is a very exciting discovery,” Komijani said. “It opens up new possibilities for understanding how electrons interact with each other in solids.”
Strange metals are materials that do not follow traditional electrical rules and have been studied since the 1970s. They are known for their unusual properties, such as superconductivity and exotic magnetism and have been found in many different materials, including high-temperature superconductors, heavy fermion compounds, and graphene-based systems.
Strange metals are a unique material class operating outside the normal electricity rules. These materials are made from alloys of rare earth metals and have been found to exhibit unexpected electrical behaviour when exposed to gamma radiation. There are currently over 1,000 known strange metals, some of which include: titanium-zinc-copper alloys, copper-indium-gallium-diselenide, scandium trifluoride and samarium hexaboride.
Research is ongoing into the potential applications of these strange metals. Scientists are exploring how they could be used as transistors for more powerful computing speeds and greater efficiency and in capacitors or batteries to store up to ten times more energy than traditional materials.
The study of strange metals has opened up many possibilities for further exploration into their mysterious properties and potential applications. Researchers hope their work will one day lead to revolutionary new technologies with the help of these innovative materials.
Komijani explained that understanding how electrons interact with each other is crucial for developing new technologies such as quantum computers or energy storage devices. He believes this research could help scientists develop better models for understanding these interactions and designing new materials with improved properties.
The research team plans to continue studying strange metals to gain further insight into their behaviour and potential applications. They hope that their work will open up new possibilities for understanding how electrons interact with each other in solids and lead to the development of better models for designing new materials with improved properties.