The so-called topological insulators are those materials that are insulators in bulk, i.e., those that do not allow electric currents in their volume, but that are conductors on their surfaces. Unlike the usual conductors, that is, metals, the electric current circulating in a topological insulator does not suffer any loss of energy. This property opens great possibilities for application in electronics, since it would enable the fabrication of more efficient, faster and low-energy consumption devices. This is an objective as desirable as it is necessary in the current scenario of rapid advance of energy demand worldwide, which threatens our environment. For that very reason, the discovery of topological insulators about a decade ago caused a global research boom in the fields of nanotechnology and condensed matter physics.
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Source: Phys.org