
New fundamental research by UT Dallas physicists may accelerate the drive toward more advanced electronics and more powerful computers.
The scientists are investigating materials called topological insulators, whose surface electrical properties are essentially the opposite of the properties inside.
“These materials are made of the same thing throughout, from the interior to the exterior,” said
Dr. Fan Zhang, assistant professor of
physics at UT Dallas. “But, the interior does not conduct electrons — it’s an insulator — while the electrons on the surface are free to move around. The surface is therefore a conductor, like a metal, but it is in fact more robust than a metal.”

UT Dallas physicists have published new findings examining the electrical properties of materials that could be harnessed for next-generation transistors and electronics.
Dr. Fan Zhang, assistant professor of physics, and senior physics student Armin Khamoshi recently published their research on transition metal dichalcogenides, or TMDs, in the journal
Nature Communications. Zhang is a co-corresponding author, and Khamoshi is a co-lead author of the paper, which also includes collaborating scientists at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.
Physicists at The University of Texas at Dallas and Wuhan University have created an artificial structure that does not reflect sound and bends it in a way that does not occur in nature.
The results could inspire new directions in wave manipulation, such as acoustic cloaking technologies, and advances in photonics and electronics, said
Dr. Fan Zhang, assistant professor of physics at UT Dallas and one of the authors of the study published in
Nature.