Novel phase of matter discovered

New York: A team of physicists has discovered an unusual form of matter -- not a conventional metal, insulator, or magnet, for example, but something entirely different, a study says.

This phase, characterised by an unusual ordering of electrons, offers possibilities for new electronic device functionalities, the study said.

"The discovery of this phase was completely unexpected and not based on any prior theoretical prediction," said lead researcher David Hsieh, assistant professor of physics at California Institute of Technology in the US.

According to the researchers, this new phase of matter could hold the solution to a long-standing mystery in condensed matter physics having to do with high-temperature superconductivity - the ability for some materials to conduct electricity without resistance, even at temperatures approaching -100 degrees Celsius.

The physicists made the discovery while testing a laser-based measurement technique that they recently developed to look for what is called multipolar order.

The specific compound that the researchers studied was strontium-iridium oxide (Sr2IrO4), a member of the class of synthetic compounds broadly known as iridates.