Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have observed “electronic vortices” for the first time. The strange behavior occurs when electricity flows as a liquid that can make electronics more efficient. Like water, electricity is made up of discrete particles, so you would expect both to flow the same way. But while the water molecules are large enough to repel each other and flow together, the electrons are much smaller, meaning they are more attracted to each other by their surroundings.

However, it was predicted that under ideal conditions – temperatures close to absolute zero and in pure, defect-free materials – quantum effects should take over their motion and allow honey to flow as an electron liquid with a viscosity. If scientists could take advantage of this, they could create more efficient electronic devices in which electricity flows with less resistance.

A team from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has observed clear signs of electronic fluid eddies in a new study. These are structures commonly used in fluid flows, but something that electrons can normally generate and thus never observed before. The researchers observed electron vortices in tungsten ditelluride crystals.

In this material, the team dug a narrow channel with a circular chamber on either side, then passed a current through it and measured the electron flow. In standard materials such as gold, electrons will always move in the same general direction, even if they diffuse into the chambers and return to the central channel. But in tungsten ditelluride, electrons rotated in circular chambers, changing direction and creating vortices.

“Theoretically, electron vortices could be predicted, but there was no direct evidence, and seeing is believing,” Levitov said. “Now we’ve seen that, and it’s a clear sign of being in a new regime where electrons behave like a liquid rather than individual particles.” The team says this confirmation of long-held predictions could help scientists design more efficient electronics.