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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 17, 2025

Gradient Echo Quantum Memory in Warm Atomic Vapor

Gradient Echo Quantum Memory in Warm Atomic Vapor

Published on: November 11, 2013

Imaging quantum melting in a disordered 2D Wigner solid.

Ziyu Xiang^1,2,3, Hongyuan Li^1,2,3, Jianghan Xiao^1,2,3

¹Department of Physics, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA.

Science (New York, N.Y.)

|May 15, 2025

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Researchers observed the quantum melting of a Wigner crystal in bilayer molybdenum diselenide. This study details the transition from a solid to a liquid phase in two-dimensional electron systems.

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Area of Science:

Condensed Matter Physics
Materials Science

Background:

Electrons in 2D systems form Wigner crystals at low densities and Fermi liquids at high densities.
An intermediate phase exists between these states, characterized by a strongly correlated liquid.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the quantum melting of a disordered Wigner solid in bilayer molybdenum diselenide (MoSe2).
To characterize the transition from a solid to a liquid phase in this 2D electron system.

Main Methods:

Utilized noninvasive scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) for imaging.
Observed nanocrystalline domains and their behavior under varying densities.

Main Results:

Wigner solids formed nanocrystalline domains pinned by disorder at low densities.
Observed quantum densification within the solid phase.
Identified a critical density where the Wigner solid melts locally, forming a mixed solid-liquid phase.
Liquid regions expanded and formed a percolation network at higher densities.

Conclusions:

The study provides direct observation of the quantum melting process in a 2D Wigner solid.
The findings elucidate the complex phase transitions in strongly interacting 2D electron systems.