Chinese scientists isolate Weyl fermions theorised 86 years ago

Scientists have isolated a massless particle called the Weyl fermion, which might lead to faster and more efficient electronics, said the Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) on Tuesday.

First proposed by physicist Hermann Weyl in 1929, Weyl fermions are more basic particles than electrons and, because of being massless, can facilitate a more free and efficient flow of electricity.

However, scientists had not observed them in experiments before.

Scientists with the CAS Institute of Physics discovered a way to reproduce the particle by shooting synchrotron radiation light beams through a synthetic metallic crystal called tantalum arsenide (TaAs).

The discovery of Weyl fermions may lead to progress in reducing the energy consumption of smaller electronic devices. The particle may also be used to achieve high fault tolerance in topological quantum computing.