Heavy fermions emerge at interface between 2D ytterbium–copper compound and substrate, inspiring quantum material design

https://phys.org/news/2026-10-heavy-fermions-emerge-atomic-layer.html

"heavy fermions occur when conduction electrons strongly interact with localized magnetic moments, effectively acquiring effective masses hundreds of times larger than that of a free electron... new mechanism for tuning strongly correlated electron behavior generates synthetic heavy fermions at 2D interfaces bypassing rare-earth 3D bulk crystal growth constraints... opens up groundbreaking routes for custom low-dimensional quantum computing materials and unconventional superconductors"