"Unveiling the Surprising Behavior of Composite Fermions: Flowing Without Magnetic Fields"
Researchers have discovered that certain twisted semiconductor bilayers can host a Fermi liquid of composite fermions (CFs) without the need for an applied magnetic field. CFs are weakly interacting particles that capture part of a magnetic field and display phenomena such as the fractional quantum Hall effect. Recent experiments have shown that a twisted bilayer of MoTe2 semiconductor exhibits CFs and the fractional quantum Hall effect without a magnetic field. Theoretical analysis predicts that this twisted bilayer can also realize a state called a CF Fermi liquid, which is a strongly correlated metallic state fundamentally different from ordinary electron Fermi liquids found in metals. The ability to create a CF Fermi liquid at zero magnetic field opens up new possibilities for exploring this peculiar state and its potential applications.