Marco Polini

A metal is a sea of electrons that move almost freely, colliding only occasionally. But in some materials, this sea suddenly becomes viscous and unpredictable: electrons stop behaving like independent particles. Physicists call this state 'non-Fermi liquid,' and it remains a puzzle.

A Stradivarius violin can only be made from wood that grew under special conditions. For a long time, it was believed that graphene for delicate quantum effects had to be exfoliated from graphite with tape, and that a crystal grown in a test tube was incapable of such feats. This work shows that graphene grown from a gas mixture can sound like a Stradivarius.