Important material properties can be explained at the level of quantum physics - for example, whether a material conducts electricity or not. Analysing such quantum states has now revealed that there ...

An insulator has a band structure in which occupied and empty bands are separated by an energy gap. The existence of an energy gap, however, does not guarantee that a material is a simple insulator.

Mott insulators are a unique class of materials that defy conventional band theories of solids. Though they are expected to conduct electricity, they exhibit insulating properties, particularly at low ...

This unique feature could enable a range of ... these flat-band materials can be scaled up and integrated into real-world applications such as sound and vibration insulation, energy harvesting ...