Imagine a material that changes its structure just by being gently squeezed—like a high-tech sandwich.
Scientists from Washington State University and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte have discovered such a material, and it could help create faster, longer-lasting memory for future computers.
The new material, called β-ZnTe(en)₀.₅, is made of layers of zinc telluride and an organic compound called ethylenediamine.
Researchers describe it as a stack of hard and soft layers, a bit like layering ceramic and plastic.
When pressure is applied, the softer layers compress more easily, causing the entire structure to change.
This discovery, published in AIP Advances, was made possible thanks to a powerful X-ray system installed at WSU’s Pullman campus in 2022.
Normally, studying such tiny changes requires traveling to massive facilities like the Advanced Light Source in California.
But with the new equipment, the research team could closely watch the material transform under pressure without ever leaving campus.
“We discovered that the material didn’t just shrink when squeezed—it actually rearranged its internal structure in a big way,” said Matt McCluskey, a WSU physics professor and co-author of the study.
Using a device called a diamond anvil cell, which applies extreme pressure, the researchers found that the material went through two major structural changes at relatively low pressures—much lower than what’s typically needed for similar materials. In fact, the first changes happened at about a tenth of the pressure usually required for pure zinc telluride.
Lead author Julie Miller, a physics Ph.D. student at WSU, explained that this kind of change is called a phase transition, similar to how water turns into ice or steam.
But instead of changing between liquid and gas, this material shifts between two solid forms, rearranging the same atoms into a denser, more compact structure. These shifts can significantly affect how the material conducts electricity or light.
Because different phases can have different electrical properties, this material could be used for “phase change memory”—an exciting type of computer memory that could store more data, work faster, and use less power than today’s technology. It could also be useful in photonics, an area where light is used instead of electricity to move and store information.
Even more interesting, the material behaves differently depending on which direction it’s squeezed, making it highly tunable for different technologies.
While it’s still early days, the team is excited about the possibilities. They plan to next explore how the material reacts to temperature changes and what happens when both heat and pressure are applied.
“We’re just starting to understand what these hybrid materials can do,” Miller said. “And being able to make these discoveries right here on campus makes it even more exciting.”
