Switching identities: Revolutionary insulator-like material also conducts electricity

For News Media THIS NEWS IS EMBARGOED BY THE JOURNAL SCIENCE UNTIL 2 P.M. EST, NOV. University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers have made a material that can transition from an electricity-transmitting metal to a nonconducting insulating material without changing its atomic structure. "This is quite an exciting discovery," says Chang-Beom Eom, professor of materials science and engineering. "We've found a new method of electronic switching." The new material could lay the groundwork for ultrafast electronic devices, such as the cellphones and computers of the future. Eom and his international team of collaborators published details of their advance today (Nov. Chang-Beom Eom, right, and Mark Rzchowski inspect a materials growth chamber. The researchers have made a new material that can be switched from electrical conductor to insulator.