Supersolids go two-dimensional

Laburthe-Tolra, Bruno

doi:10.1038/d41586-021-02191-5

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18 August 2021

Supersolids go two-dimensional

Supersolids are exotic materials whose constituent particles can simultaneously form a crystal and flow without friction. The first 2D supersolid has been produced using ultracold gases of highly magnetic atoms.

Bruno Laburthe-Tolra⁰

Bruno Laburthe-Tolra
1. Bruno Laburthe-Tolra is at the Laser Physics Laboratory, Paris North University, 93430 Villetaneuse, France.
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Despite their name, materials known as supersolids¹ are not super rigid. Instead, they combine the ordered structure of a solid with the properties of a superfluid — a substance that flows without friction. To picture a supersolid, consider an ice cube immersed in liquid water, with frictionless flow of the water through the cube. In 2019, supersolids were made using ultracold magnetic atoms²^–⁴, but the ordered structure existed in only one dimension. Now, in a paper in Nature, Norcia et al.⁵ report the observation of a 2D supersolid formed by ultracold dysprosium atoms.

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Nature 596, 348-349 (2021)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-021-02191-5

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