Tyler Cocker<\/p>\n
\u201cThis experience has been a reminder of what science is really like because we found materials that are working in ways that we didn\u2019t expect,\u201d said Cocker. \u201cNow, we want to look at something that is going to be technologically interesting for people in the future.\u201d <\/p>\n
Using a material called tungsten ditelluride, or WTe2, which is made up of a layer of tungsten, or W atoms, sandwiched between two layers of tellurium, or Te atoms, Cocker\u2019s team conducted a series of experiments where they placed this material under a specialized microscope they built. While microscopes are typically used to look at things that are hard for the human eye to see, like individual cells, Cocker\u2019s scanning tunneling microscope can show individual atoms on the surface of a material. It does this by moving an extremely sharp metal tip over the surface, \u201cfeeling\u201d atoms through an electrical signal, like reading braille. While looking at the atoms on the surface of WTe2, Cocker and his team used a super-fast laser to create terahertz pulses of light that were moving at speeds of hundreds of trillions of times per second. These terahertz pulses were focused onto the tip. At the tip, the strength of the pulses was increased enormously, allowing the researchers to wiggle the top layer of atoms directly beneath the tip and gently nudge that layer out of alignment from the remaining layers underneath it. Think of it like a stack of papers with the top sheet slightly crooked. <\/p>\n
Vedran Jelic and Tyler Cocker <\/p>\n
While the laser pulses illuminated the tip and WTe2, the top layer of the material behaved differently, exhibiting new electronic properties not observed when the laser was turned off. Cocker and his team realized the terahertz pulses together with the tip could be used like a nanoscale switch to temporarily change the electrical properties of WTe2 to upscale the next generation of devices. Cocker\u2019s microscope could even see the atoms moving during this process and photograph the unique \u201con\u201d and \u201coff\u201d states of the switch they had created. <\/p>\n
When Cocker and Mendoza-Cortes realized that they were working on similar projects from different perspectives, Cocker\u2019s experimental side joined with Mendoza\u2019s theoretical side of quantum mechanics. Mendoza-Cortes\u2019 research focuses on creating computer simulations. By comparing the results of Mendoza\u2019s quantum calculations to Cocker\u2019s experiments, both labs yielded the same results \u2014 independently and by using different tools. <\/p>\n
Jose L. Mendoza-Cortes<\/p>\n
\u201cOur research is complementary; it\u2019s the same observations but through different lenses,\u201d said Mendoza-Cortes. \u201cWhen our model matched the same answers and conclusions they found in their experiments, we have a better picture of what is going on.\u201d <\/p>\n
The Mendoza lab computationally found that the layers of WTe2 shift by 7 picometers while they are wiggling, which is hard to observe by the specialized microscope alone. Also, they were able to confirm that the frequencies at which the atoms wiggle match between the experiment and theory, but the quantum calculations can tell which way they wiggle and by how much. <\/p>\n
L-R: Kelly Climber, Jose L. Mendoza-Cortes and Daniel Maldonado Lopez.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe movement only occurs on the topmost layer, so it is very localized,\u201d said Daniel Maldonado-Lopez, a fourth-year graduate student in Mendoza\u2019s lab. \u201cThis can potentially be applied in building faster and smaller electronics.\u201d <\/p>\n
Cocker and Mendoza-Cortes hope this research will lead to the use of new materials, lower costs, faster speeds and greater energy efficiency for future phones and computer technology. <\/p>\n
Stefanie Adams<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you think about your smartphone or your laptop, all of the components that are in there are made out of a material,\u201d said Stefanie Adams, a fourth-year graduate student in Cocker\u2019s lab. \u201cAt some point, someone decided that\u2019s the material we\u2019re going use.\u201d <\/p>\n
The research<\/a> appeared in Nature Photonics and was supported in part through computational resources and services provided by the Institute for Cyber-Enabled Research at Michigan State University. <\/p>\n ### <\/p>\n Michigan State University has been advancing the common good with uncommon will for 170 years. One of the world\u2019s leading public research universities, MSU pushes the boundaries of discovery to make a better, safer, healthier world for all while providing life-changing opportunities to a diverse and inclusive academic community through more than 400 programs of study in 17 degree-granting colleges. <\/p>\n For generations, Spartans have been changing the world through research. Federal funding helps power many of the discoveries that improve lives and keep America at the forefront of innovation and competitiveness. From lifesaving cancer treatments to solutions that advance technology, agriculture, energy and more, MSU researchers work every day to shape a better future for the people of Michigan and beyond. Learn more about MSU\u2019s research impact<\/a> powered by partnership with the federal government.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Researchers at Michigan State University have figured out how to use a fast laser to wiggle atoms in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":67988,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[77],"tags":[38597,18,19,17,32293,133],"class_list":{"0":"post-67987","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-science","8":"tag-atom","9":"tag-eire","10":"tag-ie","11":"tag-ireland","12":"tag-laser","13":"tag-science"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67987","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=67987"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67987\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/67988"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67987"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67987"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67987"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}