Effortless Electron Pathways

The chiral interface state is a conducting channel that allows electrons to travel in only one direction, preventing them from being scattered backward and causing energy-wasting electrical resistance. Researchers are working to understand better the properties of chiral interface states in real materials, but visualizing their spatial characteristics has proved to be exceptionally difficult.

However, a recent breakthrough has been achieved by a research team at Berkeley Lab and UC Berkeley. For the first time, atomic-resolution images have been captured, directly visualizing a chiral interface state. The researchers have also demonstrated the on-demand creation of these resistance-free conducting channels in a 2D insulator.

Their groundbreaking work, published in the journal Nature Physics, is part of Berkeley Lab's broader efforts to advance quantum computing and other quantum information system applications. This includes the design and synthesis of quantum materials to address pressing technological needs.

"Previous experiments have demonstrated that chiral interface states exist, but no one has ever visualized them with such high resolution. Our work shows for the first time what these 1D states look like at the atomic scale, including how we can alter them—and even create them," said first author Canxun Zhang, a former graduate student researcher in Berkeley Lab's Materials Sciences Division and the Department of Physics at UC Berkeley. He is now a postdoctoral researcher at UC Santa Barbara.

These findings mark a significant step forward in the field of quantum materials research. By directly visualizing the chiral interface state and understanding its atomic-scale characteristics, researchers can now explore new possibilities for manipulating and controlling these conducting channels. This has the potential to revolutionize the development of quantum information systems and pave the way for more efficient and powerful technologies.