Now, researchers from Japan and the US have observed several previously unseen quantum states in a two-dimensional material. These materials join the growing list of what the researchers call a quantum zoo.
In a press release, co-author of the study, Prof. Xiaoyang Zhu from Columbia University, said, “Some of these states have never been seen before. And we didn’t expect to see so many either.”
Several of these quantum states were hidden, requiring the researchers to develop an innovative optical technique. The researchers used this technique to probe the quantum states of twisted molybdenum ditelluride (tMoTe2), a two-dimensional moiré material.