In its superconducting state, an exotic metal harbors charge carriers that appear to have 4 and 6 times the charge of a single electron, suggesting the formation of Cooper-pair “molecules.”

A kagome crystal features two-dimensional atomic layers whose structure resembles a traditional Japanese basket weave called kagome. For several decades, the kagome crystals that attracted the most attention were insulating magnets. The geometric frustration inherent in their kagome structure could, it was hoped, engender a much-sought exotic state known as a quantum spin liquid. By contrast, the metallic side of the kagome family was more of a theoretical curiosity. That status changed in 2019 with the discovery of exotic electronic behavior—Dirac fermions and flat bands—in the kagome metal FeSn [1]. A bigger surprise followed a year later when superconductivity was observed in the kagome metal cesium vanadium antimonide (CsV₃Sb₅, or CVS for short) [2].

An “optical conveyor belt” that can move polaritons—a type of light-matter hybrid particle—in semiconductor-based microcavities.

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This asymmetric response of the confined polaritons breaks time-reversal symmetry, driving non-reciprocity and the formation of a topological band structure.

Photonic states with topological properties can be used in advanced opto-electronic devices where topology might greatly improve the performance of optical devices, circuits, and networks, such as by reducing noise and lasing threshold powers, and dissipationless optical waveguiding.

Further, the simplicity and robustness of our technique opens new opportunities for the development of topological photonic devices with applications in quantum metrology and quantum information, concludes Fraser.

Using a clever laser technique, scientists have squished pairs of atoms closer together than ever before, revealing some truly mind-boggling quantum effects.