Quantum fluid reveals hidden states that can be switched with a magnetic field
Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) are often described as a "fifth state of matter": a quantum state in which many particles lose their individual identities and behave as one collective object. For more than 60 years, researchers have sought to create such condensates from excitons—electron-hole pairs—as a solid-state route to macroscopic quantum coherence, which is useful for quantum…
Researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have observed a tunable Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) of excitons at room temperature in an atomically thin semiconductor. This breakthrough enables a new platform for studying quantum fluids in solid materials and has implications for quantum technologies, simulations, and computing.
Unlike previous BEC demonstrations in ultracold atomic gases, the excitons in this study form an equilibrium condensate that can be controlled electrically and magnetically. The condensate exhibits two distinct components, each with different spin-valley configurations, which can be switched by applying a magnetic field.
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