Researchers at Tel Aviv University have developed a groundbreaking method to transform graphite into materials with electronic memory capabilities.
By manipulating atomic layers, they could revolutionize computing and electronic devices, potentially surpassing the value of diamonds and gold.
Transforming Elements: From Alchemy to Advanced Materials
Can copper be turned into gold? For centuries, alchemists chased this dream, unaware that such a transformation requires a nuclear reaction. On the other hand, graphite—the material in pencil tips—and diamond share the same basic building blocks: carbon atoms. The key difference lies in how these atoms are arranged. Turning graphite into diamond demands extreme heat and pressure to break and rebuild chemical bonds, making it an impractical process.
A more achievable transformation, according to Prof. Moshe Ben Shalom, head of the Quantum Layered Matter Group at Tel Aviv University, involves reconfiguring the atomic layers of graphite by subtly shifting them. Unlike the strong chemical bonds that form diamonds, the layers in graphite are held together by weak van der Waals forces, allowing them to slide against each other. Prof. Ben Shalom, along with PhD students Maayan Vizner Stern and Simon Salleh Atri from the Raymond & Beverly Sackler School of Physics & Astronomy at Tel Aviv University, explored this idea in a study recently published in Nature Review Physics.
Innovating with Polytype Materials
While this process won’t create diamonds, it could have even greater technological value. If the atomic layer shifting can be done quickly and efficiently, it could enable the development of tiny, high-performance electronic memory units. These newly engineered “polytype” materials could ultimately prove more valuable than both diamonds and gold.
PhD student Maayan Vizner Stern explains: “Like graphite, nature produces many other materials with weakly bonded layers. Each layer behaves like a LEGO brick—breaking a single brick is difficult, but separating and reconnecting two bricks is relatively simple. Similarly, in layered materials, the layers prefer specific stacking positions where atoms align perfectly with those in the neighboring layer. Sliding between these positions happens in tiny, discrete jumps—just an atomic distance at a time.”
Slidetronics: The Future of Material Science
PhD student Simon Salleh Atri describes their research: “We are developing new methods to slide the layers into different arrangements and study the resulting materials. By applying an electric field or mechanical pressure, we can shift the layers into various stable configurations. Since these layers remain in their final position even after the external force is removed, they can store information—functioning as a tiny memory unit.”
Their team has also explored how different numbers of layers influence material properties. For example, three layers of a material with two types of atoms can create six distinct stable materials, each with unique internal polarizations. With five layers, this number increases to 45 different possible structures. By switching between these configurations, researchers can control electrical, magnetic, and optical properties. Even graphite, composed solely of carbon, can rearrange into six different crystalline forms, each with distinct electrical conductivities, infrared responses, magnetizations, and superconducting properties.
The main challenge is to maintain the material’s stability while ensuring controlled structural transitions. Their recent perspective paper summarizes ongoing studies and proposes new methods to refine this “Slidetronics” switching mechanism, paving the way for innovative applications in electronics, computing, and beyond.
With continued research, these sliding materials could revolutionize technology, offering faster, more efficient memory storage and unprecedented control over material properties. The ability to manipulate atomic layers with precision is opening doors to a new era in material science—one where the most valuable discoveries may not come from creating gold, but from unlocking the hidden potential of everyday elements.
Reference: “Sliding van der Waals polytypes” by Maayan Vizner Stern, Simon Salleh Atri and Moshe Ben Shalom, 21 November 2024, Nature Reviews Physics.
DOI: 10.1038/s42254-024-00781-6
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3 Comments
With continued research, these sliding materials could revolutionize technology, offering faster, more efficient memory storage and unprecedented control over material properties.
VERY GOOD！
The field of materials science is continually evolving and advancing, and it is endless. Scientific research guided by correct theories can enable researchers to think more.
According to the Topological Vortex Theory (TVT), spins create everything, spins shape the world. There are substantial distinctions between Topological Vortex Theory (TVT) and traditional physical theories. Grounded in the inviscid and absolutely incompressible spaces, TVT introduces the concept of topological phase transitions and employs topological principles to elucidate the formation and evolution of matter in the universe, as well as the impact of interactions between topological vortices and anti-vortices on spacetime dynamics and thermodynamics.
Within TVT, low-dimensional spacetime matter serves as the foundation for high-dimensional spacetime matter, and the hierarchical structure of matter and its interaction mechanisms challenge conventional macroscopic and microscopic interpretations. The conflict between Quantum Physics and Classical Physics can be attributed to their differing focuses: Quantum Physics emphasizes low-dimensional spacetime matter, whereas Classical Physics centers on high-dimensional spacetime matter.
As the background of various material interactions and movements, space exhibits inviscid, absolutely incompressible and isotropic physical characteristics. It may form various forms of spacetime vortices through topological phase transitions. Hence, vortex phenomena are ubiquitous in cosmic space, from vortices of quantum particles and living cells to tornados and black holes. Stars and radioactive elements are one of the most active topological nodes in spacetime. Utilizing them is more valuable and meaningful than simulating them. Small or micro power topology intelligent batteries may be the direction of future energy research and development for human society.
Under the topological vortex architecture, science and pseudoscience are clear at a glance. Topological Vortex Theory (TVT) can play a crucial role in elucidating the foundations of physics, establishing its principles, and combating pseudoscience. Therefore, TVT has been strongly opposed and boycotted by traditional so-called peer review publications (such as PRL, PNAS, Nature, Science, etc.).
These so-called peer review publications (including PRL, PNAS, Nature, Science, etc.) mislead the direction of science and are known for their various absurdities and wonders. They collude together, reference each other, and use so-called Impact Factor (IF) or the Nobel Prize to deceive people around.
Ask the so-called peer review publications (including PRL, PNAS, Nature, Science, etc.):
1. What are your criteria for distinguishing science from pseudoscience?
2. Is your Impact Factor (IF) the standard for distinguishing science from pseudoscience?
3. Is the Nobel Prize the standard for distinguishing science from pseudoscience?
4. What is the most important aspect of academic publications?
5. Is the most important aspect of academic publications being flashy and impractical articles?
Publications that mislead the public under the guise of scholarship are more reprehensible than ordinary publications. The field of physics faces an ongoing challenge in maintaining scientific rigor and integrity in the face of pervasive pseudoscientific claims. Fighting against rampant pseudoscience, physics still has a long way to go.
While my comments may be lengthy, they are necessary to combat the proliferation of rampant pseudoscience and to promote the advancement of science and technology, and also is all I can do.
If researchers are interested, it may be beneficial to review the A Brief History of the Evolution of Cosmic Matter (https://scitechdaily.com/microscope-spacecrafts-most-precise-test-of-key-component-of-the-theory-of-general-relativity/#comment-873523).
The two comments preceding mine illustrate the warning of Jaron Lanier: “The danger isn’t that AI destroys us. It’s that it drives us insane”
Thank you for your browsing.
Please do not misunderstand the progress of science and technology.
AI itself is not dangerous. The danger is inputting incorrect information when training AI.