New Simulation Reveals Secrets of Exotic Form of Electrons Called Polarons

The Supersized Science podcast features research and discoveries nationwide enabled by advanced computing technology and expertise at the Texas Advanced Computing Center of the University of Texas at Austin. Jorge Salazar, a science writer at TACC, hosts the podcast. A new leaf has turned in scientists' hunt for developing cutting-edge materials used in organic light-emitting diode (OLED) TV's, touchscreens, and more. The advance involves the polaron, a quasiparticle consisting of an electron and its surrounding distortions of atoms in a crystal lattice. Simulations on the Texas Advanced Computing Center's Frontera supercomputer have helped scientists map for the first time the conditions that characterize polarons in 2D materials, the thinnest materials that have ever been made. Understanding polarons can help improve the performance and efficiency of devices such as touchscreens for phones and tablets, and the organic light-emitting diodes of OLED TVs, which rely on electric charge transport through polarons. What's more, generating hydrogen fuel from the splitting of water by sunlight is considered the ‘holy grail' of energy science, a process which can be achieved through charge transport from polarons in key materials such as titanium dioxide. On the podcast is Feliciano Giustino, professor of Physics and the W. A. ‘Tex' Moncrief, Jr. Chair of Quantum Materials Engineering at the Oden Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences (Oden Institute) and the Department of Physics, College of Natural Sciences, The University of Texas at Austin. Giustino is the lead author on polaron research published February 2023 in Nature Physics. In it, he and study co-author Weng Hong Sio of the Oden Institute and the University of Macau determined the fundamental properties of polarons in 2D materials using quantum mechanical theory and computation. Supersized Science is part of the Texas Podcast Network – the conversations changing the world – brought to you by The University of Texas at Austin. The opinions expressed in this podcast represent the views of the hosts, and not of The University of Texas at Austin. Story Link: https://www.tacc.utexas.edu/-/new-simulation-reveals-secrets-of-exotic-form-of-electrons-called-polarons Music Credit: Raro Bueno, Chuzausen freemusicarchive.org/music/Chuzausen/