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Graphene quantum dots mimic orbital hybridization

Quantum leap: Graphene unlocks orbital hybridization
Orbital hybridization in natural atoms and artificial atoms. Credit: Nature (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-025-08620-z

A research team led by Professor Sun Qing-Feng in collaboration with Professor He Lin's research group from Beijing Normal University has achieved orbital hybridization in graphene-based artificial atoms for the first time.

Their study, titled "Orbital hybridization in graphene-based artificial atoms" has been in Nature. The work marks a significant milestone in the field of quantum physics and , bridging the gap between artificial and real atomic behaviors.

Quantum dots, often called artificial atoms, can mimic but have not yet been used to simulate orbital hybridization, a crucial process in real atoms. While quantum dots have successfully demonstrated artificial bonding and antibonding states, their ability to replicate orbital hybridization remained unexplored.

A fundamental understanding of how anisotropic confinement affects hybridization in quantum dots was lacking.

The authors developed a theoretical framework and experimental approach to achieve orbital hybridization in graphene-based quantum dots. They proposed that anisotropic potentials in could induce hybridization between confined states of different orbitals, such as the s orbital (orbital quantum number 0) and the d orbital (orbital quantum number 2).

By deforming the circular potential of graphene quantum dots into an elliptical potential, the team successfully induced orbital , resulting in two hybridized states with distinct shapes (θ shape and rotated θ shape).

The experimental results, obtained by probing confined states in various , confirmed the theoretical predictions, demonstrating the recombination of atomic collapse states (a quantum electrodynamics phenomenon) and whispering gallery modes (an acoustic phenomenon).

More information: Yue Mao et al, Orbital hybridization in graphene-based artificial atoms, Nature (2025).

Journal information: Nature

Provided by Peking University

Citation: Graphene quantum dots mimic orbital hybridization (2025, March 21) retrieved 2 May 2025 from /news/2025-03-graphene-quantum-dots-mimic-orbital.html
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