The quantum twisting microscope: A new lens on quantum materials

One of the striking aspects of the quantum world is that a particle, say, an electron, is also a wave, meaning that it exists in many places at the same time. In a new study, reported today in Nature, researchers from the Weizmann Institute of Science make use of this property to develop a new type of tool—the quantum twisting microscope (QTM)—that can create novel quantum materials while simultaneously gazing into the most fundamental quantum nature of their electrons.