A team of U.S. researchers has uncovered a new way to access a hidden state of matter in the quantum material 1T-TaS₂, which could one day lead to faster and more energy-efficient electronics. Traditionally, this material’s special metallic-insulating mixed phase could only be triggered with ultrafast lasers or electrical pulses and remained stable for only microseconds at extremely low temperatures. In the new study, scientists instead used rapid heating and cooling known as thermal quenching to unlock and stabilize this phase without expensive lasers or cryogenic systems.
By heating tantalum disulfide above 147 °C and then cooling it at a rate of –153 °C per second, the researchers forced the electrons in the material to reorganize into regions of high and low mobility. This created a charge density wave pattern that allowed metallic and insulating states to coexist. Remarkably, this mixed phase can now remain stable for hours at temperatures far higher than previously possible and can be reproduced repeatedly.
Because materials like 1T-TaS₂ can switch states extremely quickly and potentially store and process data in the same place, they offer a promising route toward in-memory computing. Such technology could drastically reduce the energy demands of future AI and computing systems.