RRI team find new code for detecting hidden properties of exotic materials

The Raman Research Institute. | Photo Credit: FILE PHOTO

A team from the Raman Research Institute (RRI) found a new code for detecting hidden properties of exotic materials.

According to the Department of Science and Technology, scientists have found a new way of spotting a property of topological space called ‘topological invariant’ in quantum materials, which remains unchanged under continuous deformations or transformations.

Topological materials are at the forefront of next-gen technology — quantum computing, fault-tolerant electronics, and energy-efficient systems.

“But detecting their exotic properties has always been tricky. Topological invariance implies that if you can deform one shape into another without cutting or gluing, any topological invariant will be the same for both shapes,” department said.

It added that in certain materials like topological insulators and superconductors, strange things happen.

“Electrons behave differently depending on how the material is ‘shaped’ at the quantum level. These shapes are defined not by their appearance, but by something deeper—topological invariants, such as winding numbers (in 1D systems) and Chern numbers (in 2D systems). These numbers are like hidden codes that determine how particles move through a material,” it added.

Spectral function

The RRI team found a new way to detect this hidden code using a property called the spectral function.

Professor Dibyendu Roy and PhD researcher Kiran Babasaheb Estake have carried this out by analyzing the momentum-space spectral function (SPSF).

Traditionally, scientists used techniques like ARPES (Angle-Resolved Photoemission Spectroscopy) to study electron behaviour. The new research published in Physical Review B. showed that the same spectral function holds clues to the material’s hidden topology—a revolutionary way to see the structure without directly observing it.

“The spectral function has been used for many years as an experimental tool to probe the physical quantities such as density of states and the dispersion relation of electrons in a system through ARPES. It was not seen as a tool to probe topology or topological aspects of an electronic system.” said Kiran Babasaheb Estake, PhD student in theoretical Physics at RRI and the lead author.

Universal tool

The study potentially offers a universal tool to explore and classify topological materials, that could pave the way for new discoveries in condensed matter physics that could be useful for quantum computers, next generation electronics, and facilitate energy-efficiency.

Published - May 29, 2025 08:53 pm IST