A research team comprising Drs. Bengt Eliasson and Padma Kant Shukla from the Ruhr-University Bochum (RUB) has discovered a new phenomenon in quantum plasmas.
Nanotechnology" />Prof. Dr. Padma Kant Shukla
According to the team, a negatively charged potential allows the integration of positively charged particles or ions in atom-like structures inside the plasma, thus allowing faster and more efficient electrical conductivity than before. This discovery opens new opportunities for nanotechnology. The study findings have been reported in Physical Review Letters.
Normal plasma is an electrically conducting ionized gas comprising negative charge carriers or non-degenerate electrons and positive charge carriers or ions. It is the major component of the solar system. In the world, such plasmas can be utilized in controlled thermonuclear fusion to generate energy, or even in the medical field to treat diseases.
Quantum plasmas widen the application field to the nano-scales, wherein quantum-mechanical effects play a major role. In this case, the plasma temperature is lower and the density is higher than normal plasmas. When degenerate electrons collectively interact with the quantum plasma, they generate the newly discovered potential. This negative potential leads to the formation of lattices by creating an attractive force between the ions, which in turn compresses the ions and makes them come closer to each other. This allows them to conduct current at an unprecedented speed.
The RUB study results offer the possibility of atomic-scale ion-crystallization, paving the way to a new kind of research that can link different disciplines of physics for applications such as thin metal foils, semiconductors, metallic nano-structures, and micro-chips for quantum computers.