A team of researchers at MIT has developed a theoretical analysis making 2D quantum materials that may lead to a new type of nanoscale electronics. The concept uses a 2D material that is layered between two layers of boron nitride. Using these materials together is predicted to display a phenomenon called quantum spin hall effect (QSH). QSH describes materials having the unusual characteristics of the majority of the material being an electrical insulator while the material edges are highly conductive.
When an electric field is applied to the material, it switches the quantum state of the middle layer. The boundaries of the switched area act as perfect quantum wires. This new concept could be used to create material that is suitable to develop new types of quantum electronic devices and spintronics devices.
