---
title: Electrons Take New Shape Inside Unconventional Metal
date: 2023-01-11T10:00:00-05:00
author: University of Maryland
canonical_url: "https://today.umd.edu/electrons-take-new-shape-inside-unconventional-metal"
section: Articles
---
# Electrons Take New Shape Inside Unconventional Metal

*January 11, 2023* — by [Dina Genkina](/author/dina-genkina)


> UMD Discovery Could Contribute to Research on Noise Problem in Quantum Computers

*Electrons Artistic 1920x1080 — The striking angle dependence of electron quantum oscillations detected in YPtBi is depicted in an artistic rendering. A UMD group’s research uncovered unexpected behavior of electrons in the metal, and raises the possibility of advances in quantum computer construction.*

One of the biggest achievements of quantum physics was recasting our vision of the atom. The early 1900s conception of a solar system in miniature, with electrons looping around a solid nucleus, gave way to a vision of the particles meandering around the nucleus in clouds similar to tiny balloons. Known as atomic orbitals, the balloons come in all sorts of shapes—perfectly round, two-lobed, cloverleaf. The number of lobes in the balloon signifies how much the electron spins about the nucleus.

That’s how it works for individual atoms, but when they come together to form something solid—a chunk of metal, say—the outermost electrons in different atoms can link arms and lose sight of the nuclei they came from, forming many oversized balloons that span the chunk of metal. No longer spinning, the electrons flow through the metal to carry electrical currents, shedding the diversity of multilobed balloons.

Now, researchers at the Quantum Materials Center (QMC) at the University of Maryland, in collaboration with theorists at UMD’s Condensed Matter Theory Center (CMTC) and Joint Quantum Institute, have produced the first experimental evidence that one metal—and likely others in its class—have electrons that manage to preserve a more interesting, multilobed structure as they move around in a solid. They experimentally studied the shape of these balloons and found not a uniform surface, but a complex structure.

This unusual metal—yttrium platinum bismuth (YPtBi)— could also prove useful for building quantum computers that are resistant to noise. The researchers published their findings recently in the journal [*Physical Review Research*](https://journals.aps.org/prresearch/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.4.033169).


*Atomic orbitals at different angular momentum values (labeled with numbers) — Atomic orbitals at different angular momentum values (labeled with numbers) form a variety of shapes. Adapted from Geek3, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons*




**Topics:** [Research](https://today.umd.edu/tags/research)


**Tags:** [Physics](https://today.umd.edu/topic/physics), [Quantum Science](https://today.umd.edu/topic/quantum-science), [Research](https://today.umd.edu/topic/research)


**Units:** [College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences](https://today.umd.edu/topic/college-computer-mathematical-and-natural-sciences)