[ExI] Weyl Fermions

[John Clark]

I have a hunch
​that in the near future ​
we'll be hearing a lot more about Weyl Fermions and their use in
electronics and possibly Quantum Computers
​.​

​
Because these quasiparticles
are​
massless they can move electrical charge around much more quickly than
electrons and because they
​don't​
 bounce off imperfections and move backwards as electrons do but instead
use quantum tunneling to move right through them
​they​
  produce no heat.

Three different solutions to Dirac's equation for 1/2 spin particles have
been found:

1) Dirac Fermions: These are what people usually mean when they talk about
Fermions, particles like electrons protons and neutrons.

2) Majorana Fermions: They would be their own antiparticle and would be
great for quantum computing. There is some indications these quasiparticles
exist but nothing definite yet.

3) Weyl Fermions: Thanks to the  July 16 2015 issue of the  journal Science
we
​now ​
know that these quasiparticles do exist.

In June of this year writing in the journal Nature Communications Princeton
professor M. Zahid Hasan predicted from pure theory that Weyl Fermions
should exist in tantalum arsenide crystals. In the July 16 issue of
​
Science 2 different teams reported that they had indeed seen Weyl Fermions
in crystals of tantalum arsenide. Shortly after that Weyl Fermions were
also found in niobium and perhaps more importantly silicon-based crystals.
I smell a Nobel Prize.

Hasan said:

“Weyl fermions could be used to solve the traffic jams that you get with
electrons in electronics—they can move in a much more efficient, ordered
way than electrons. They could lead to a new type of electronics we call
‘Weyltronics.’ Weyl fermions could exist in certain crystals known as “Weyl
semimetals,” which can essentially split electrons inside into pairs of
Weyl fermions that move in opposite directions. The fact that Weyl fermions
are less prone to interacting with their surroundings could lead to new
ways of encoding quantum information.  It’s like they have their own GPS
and steer themselves without scattering. They will move and move only in
one direction since they are either right-handed or left-handed and never
come to an end because they just tunnel through. These are faster
​ ​
​than​
 electrons
​and​
 behave like unidirectional light beams and can be used for new types of
quantum computing
​.​
The physics of the Weyl fermion are so strange, there could be many things
that arise from this particle that we're just not capable of imagining now.
Weyl
quasiparticles ​
could become a motherboard for future electronic devices
​ ​
because they combine high mobility with topological protection
​. [against quantum decoherence]" ​

  John K Clark
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