This Quantum Breakthrough Could Change How Materials Are Made
This Quantum Breakthrough Could Change How Materials Are Made Scientists have shown that it may be possible to transform materials simply by triggering internal quantum ripples rather than blasting them with intense light. That idea may sound like something out of science fiction, but it is exactly what physicists aim to achieve through a growing research area known as Floquet engineering. By exposing a material to a repeating external influence such as light, scientists can temporarily reshape how its electrons behave. This process allows materials to take on entirely new properties, including behaviors normally associated with exotic states of matter, like superconductivity. The underlying theory behind Floquet physics has been studied for years, dating back to a bold proposal by Oka and Aoki in 2009. However, real-world demonstrations have been rare. Only a small number of experiments over the past decade have successfully shown clear Floquet effects. A major obstacle has been ...