Domain walls in graphene form strictly one-dimensional (1D) systems that can become superconducting via the so-called proximity effect. This is the finding of a team led by scientists at the University of Manchester, UK, who uncovered the behaviour by isolating individual domain walls in graphene and studying the transport of electrons within them – something that had never been done before. The discovery has applications in metrology and in some types of quantum bits (qubits), though team member Julien Barrier, who is now a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute of Photonic Sciences (ICFO) in Barcelona, Spain, suggests it might also impact other fields.
“Such strict 1D systems are extremely rare,” Barrier says, “and could serve a number of potential applications.”
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