5G Technology World

  • 5G Technology and Engineering
  • FAQs
  • Apps
  • Devices
  • IoT
  • RF
  • Radar
  • Wireless Design
  • Learn
    • 5G Videos
    • Ebooks
    • EE Training Days
    • FAQs
    • Learning Center
    • Tech Toolboxes
    • Webinars/Digital Events
  • Handbooks
    • 2024
    • 2023
    • 2022
    • 2021
  • Resources
    • Design Guide Library
    • EE World Digital Issues
    • Engineering Diversity & Inclusion
    • Engineering Training Days
    • LEAP Awards
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe

Researchers Discover ‘Swing-Dancing’ Pairs of Electrons

By Staff Author | May 14, 2015

A research team led by the University of Pittsburgh’s Jeremy Levy has discovered electrons that can “swing dance.” This unique electronic behavior can potentially lead to new families of quantum devices.

Superconductors, materials that permit electrical current to flow without energy loss, form the basis for magnetic resonance imaging devices as well as emerging technologies such as quantum computers. At the heart of all superconductors is the bunching of electrons into pairs.

Levy, Distinguished Professor of Physics and Pittsburgh Quantum Institute director, has discovered a long-postulated phase in which electrons form pairs but do not reach a superconducting state. The discovery provides fundamental new insights into a mechanism that could one day be used to design a material that is superconducting at room temperature.

Such a breakthrough would radically transform an array of technologies such as high-speed trains, energy-efficient power transmission, and computers that operate with negligible power requirements. The work, done in collaboration with researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, will be published May 14 in the journal Nature.

One way to understand this novel state is to extend an analogy first articulated by J. Robert Schrieffer, who shared the 1972 Nobel Prize in Physics for the theory of superconductivity. In a superconductor, the motion of paired electrons is highly coordinated, similar to waltzing couples on a dance floor. In the “normal” or non-superconducting state, electrons move independently, bumping into one another occasionally and dissipating energy. What the new research has identified is an in-between state where the electrons form pairs, but each pair moves independently. One may regard the electron pairs as “swing dancing” where dancing pairs hold hands but do not move in any synchronized fashion.

The first theory to describe how electrons pair without forming a superconducting state was published by David M. Eagles in 1969. Lead author and research assistant professor in the Levy lab, Guanglei Cheng, described how the theory was proven right: “The breakthrough comes from the technological advancement to fabricate superconducting single-electron transistors at an oxide interface–a technology that allows us to count electrons and pairs one by one. And this is just the beginning. We now have a novel platform to study the fascinating electron-electron correlations at nanoscale dimensions.”


Filed Under: RF

 

Next Article

← Previous Article
Next Article →

Related Articles Read More >

Open RAN test service adds colocation capabilities
Switch operates DC to 20 GHz with 128 configurable connection states for asymmetric SerDes testing
Butler Matrix
Butler Matrix drives Wi-Fi and other phased-array antennas
Long-wire dipole antennas: still viable after more than a century

Featured Contributions

  • Overcome Open RAN test and certification challenges
  • Wireless engineers need AI to build networks
  • Why AI chips need PCIe 7.0 IP interconnects
  • circuit board timing How timing and synchronization improve 5G spectrum efficiency
  • Wi-Fi 7 and 5G for FWA need testing
More Featured Contributions

EE TECH TOOLBOX

“ee
Tech Toolbox: 5G Technology
This Tech Toolbox covers the basics of 5G technology plus a story about how engineers designed and built a prototype DSL router mostly from old cellphone parts. Download this first 5G/wired/wireless communications Tech Toolbox to learn more!

EE LEARNING CENTER

EE Learning Center
“5g
EXPAND YOUR KNOWLEDGE AND STAY CONNECTED
Get the latest info on technologies, tools and strategies for EE professionals.

Engineering Training Days

engineering
“bills
5G Technology World
  • Enews Signup
  • EE World Online
  • DesignFast
  • EDABoard Forums
  • Electro-Tech-Online Forums
  • Microcontroller Tips
  • Analogic Tips
  • Connector Tips
  • Engineer’s Garage
  • EV Engineering
  • Power Electronic Tips
  • Sensor Tips
  • Test and Measurement Tips
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise

Copyright © 2025 WTWH Media LLC. All Rights Reserved. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of WTWH Media
Privacy Policy

Search 5G Technology World