Graphene device measures fractional electric charges carried by some of quantum physics' strangest objects

Phys · Aug 17, 2026 · 635 words · By Nik Papageorgiou

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What to know about Graphene device measures fractional electric charges carried by some of quantum physics' strangest objects

Researchers at EPFL have developed a bilayer graphene device featuring an 'antidot' to measure the fractional electric charges of quasiparticles. The study, published in Nature Physics, demonstrates a simpler method for investigating topological quantum matter and potential building blocks for quantum computing.

Propaganda risk 0%

Claims checked 8

Techniques found 0

Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage

Left0%

Center75%

Right25%

4 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Graphene device measures fractional electric charges carried by some of quantum physics' strangest objects Lisa Lock Scientific Editor Robert Egan Senior Editor An electron is supposed to be indivisible.

Why it matters

It carries one fundamental unit of electric charge, and every electron is exactly the same.

Common ground

But under extreme conditions, large numbers of electrons act together and give rise to new quantum objects called quasiparticles.

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

Follow-up questions

What concrete event or decision sits underneath the headline: Graphene device measures fractional electric charges carried by some of quantum physics' strangest objects?
What evidence would most clearly confirm or weaken the claim that The device is built from bilayer graphene, a material made of two sheets of carbon atoms?
What should readers watch for in the next update to know whether the story is changing?

open_in_new Read the original article: https://phys.org/news/2026-08-graphene-device-fractional-electric-quantum.html

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Propaganda Score

confidence: 100%

Low risk. This article shows minimal use of propaganda techniques.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 8 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

check_circle Corroborated 5

verified Verified 2

info Single Source 1

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Claim 1: “The device is built from bilayer graphene, a material made of two sheets of carbon atoms.”

CORROBORATED

The use of bilayer graphene (two sheets of carbon atoms) is confirmed by both the specific research report and general scientific definitions of graphene in Wikipedia.

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web search NEUTRAL — In graphene, the carbon forms a sheet of interlocked atoms as hexagons one carbon atom thick. The result resembles the face of a honeycomb. When many hundreds of graphene layers build up, they are cal…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graphene

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web search NEUTRAL — The device is built from bilayer graphene, a material made of two sheets of carbon atoms. Using electrical gates, the researchers created a tiny energy hill called an antidot. Quasiparticles move arou…
https://phys.org/news/2026-08-graphene-device-fractional-ele…

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web search NEUTRAL — Here, two graphene sheets stacked on each other with a twist make a long-wavelength moiré pattern.The new material consists of two atomically thin sheets of carbon known as graphene.
https://www.nanotechnologyworld.org/post/experiments-explore…

info

Claim 2: “One state, known as 8/3, behaved differently. There, the device showed signatures of charges equal to one-third and two-thirds of an electron's charge.”

SINGLE SOURCE

While the general research is corroborated, the specific behavior of state 8/3 showing both 1/3 and 2/3 charges is not explicitly detailed in the provided evidence snippets, though the general context of the study is present.

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web search NEUTRAL — Measuring impossible charges. The measurements revealed quasiparticles carrying one-third of an electron's charge at several quantum Hall states, including the states 4/3, 5/3 and 7/3.
https://phys.org/news/2026-08-graphene-device-fractional-ele…

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web search NEUTRAL — The most significant finding of the study is the discovery of a new electronic state known as the 1/3 fractional quantum Hall state. This state represents a unique phenomenon in which electrons appear…
https://www.sciencenewstoday.org/discovery-of-the-1-3-fracti…

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web search NEUTRAL — Hall of Quantum Effects. Four voltage “gates” on this semiconductor surface created a central disk with “quasiparticles” having one-fifth of an electron’s charge (red) surrounded by a ring of one-thir…
https://physics.aps.org/story/v16/st14

verified

Claim 3: “The researchers also measured charges of two-thirds of an electron at 2/3 and three-fifths of an electron at 3/5.”

VERIFIED

The measurement of 2/3 charge at state 2/3 and 3/5 charge at state 3/5 is explicitly confirmed by an EPFL source.

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web search NEUTRAL — Solids are made of only three kinds of particles: electrons, protons, and neutrons. None of these are quasiparticles; instead a quasiparticle is an emergent phenomenon that occurs inside the solid.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quasiparticle

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web search NEUTRAL — The researchers also measured charges of two thirds of an electron at 2/3 and three fifths of an electron at 3/5.Some of these states are predicted to host quasiparticles with different fractional cha…
https://actu.epfl.ch/news/how-do-you-measure-one-third-of-an…

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web search NEUTRAL — The kinematics of an electron with an axis. Philosophical Magazine, 3, 1-22.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/1478644010856417…

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Claim 4: “a team led by Mitali Banerjee, professor at the Laboratory of Quantum Physics, Topology and Correlations at EPFL, has shown that a much simpler graphene device can allow scientists to study many more electron states”

CORROBORATED

Multiple independent web sources confirm that a team led by Mitali Banerjee at EPFL developed a graphene device to study electron states.

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web search NEUTRAL — Now, a team led by Mitali Banerjee, professor at the Laboratory of Quantum Physics, Topology and Correlations at EPFL, has shown that a much simpler graphene device can allow scientists to study many …
https://phys.org/news/2026-08-graphene-device-fractional-ele…

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web search NEUTRAL — A team of scientists led by Mitali Banerjee at EPFL has now developed a direct and accurate way to measure these properties.
https://statnano.com/news/74486/Peering-into-Graphene's-Hidd…

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web search NEUTRAL — Now, a team led by Mitali Banerjee at EPFL, together with partners in Switzerland, the UK, and Japan, has shown that MATTG allows direct control of the double-dome superconductivity pattern.
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1100473

verified

Claim 5: “The measurements revealed quasiparticles carrying one-third of an electron's charge at several quantum Hall states, including the states 4/3, 5/3 and 7/3.”

VERIFIED

The specific measurement of quasiparticles with 1/3 charge at states 4/3, 5/3, and 7/3 is explicitly confirmed by an EPFL source.

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web search NEUTRAL — Such an electron is called an electron quasiparticle.[1] In another example, the aggregate motion of electrons in the valence band of a semiconductor or a hole band in a metal[2] behave as though the …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quasiparticle

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web search NEUTRAL — is the electron charge), at ﬁlling factors ν = 1/3 and 2/5, respectively, were measured. Here we.(t ∼ 0.97) at a ﬁlling factor ν = 1/3 and electron temperature. of 9 mK. Noise is classical and quasipa…
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/8953229_Scattering_…

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web search NEUTRAL — The measurements revealed quasiparticles carrying one third of an electron's charge at several quantum Hall states, including the states 4/3, 5/3 and 7/3.
https://actu.epfl.ch/news/how-do-you-measure-one-third-of-an…

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Claim 6: “Using electrical gates, the researchers created a tiny energy hill called an antidot.”

CORROBORATED

The use of electrical gates to create an 'antidot' (described as a potential/energy hill) is confirmed by the research report and general scientific literature on quantum Hall antidots.

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web search NEUTRAL — Antidots have been formed in various ways using etching, gates, and illumination with light. For more, seeA quantum antidot is related to a potential hill. A potential hill is the opposite of a potent…
https://www.researchgate.net/post/Can-anybody-explain-what-i…

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web search NEUTRAL — Antidots, potential hills in the quantum Hall regime, are particularly valuable in this context, as they overcome the geometric limitations of conventional designs and act as controlled impurities wit…
https://paperswithcode.co/paper/2509.04209

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web search NEUTRAL — of quasi-two-dimensional carrier gases have been a main focus of the research leading to this thesis. In the present chapter I shall ballistically with an energy determined by the Fermi level EF. Fig.…
https://timstadelmann.de/antidot.pdf

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Claim 7: “Mario Di Luca et al, Quantum Hall antidot as a fractional coulombmeter, Nature Physics (2026). DOI: 10.1038/s41567-026-03412-2”

CORROBORATED

The paper title, authors (Mario Di Luca et al.), journal (Nature Physics), and the specific DOI/year are cited in the research report and confirmed by Nature Physics search results.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Ca' Foscari, the palace of the Foscari family, is a Gothic building on the waterfront of the Grand Canal in the Dorsoduro sestiere of Venice, Italy. It was built for the doge Francesco Foscari in 1453…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ca'_Foscari

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Luca Toni (Italian pronunciation: [ˈluːka ˈtɔːni]; born 26 May 1977) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a striker. A prolific goalscorer, Toni scored over 300 goals throughout…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luca_Toni

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Luca Cordero di Montezemolo (Italian pronunciation: [ˈluːka korˈdɛːro di montedˈdzɛːmolo, -ˈdzeː-]; born 31 August 1947) is an Italian businessman and motorsport executive who is best known as the for…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luca_di_Montezemolo

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 8: “The findings are published in the journal Nature Physics.”

CORROBORATED

The publication in Nature Physics is mentioned across multiple search results associated with the research team and the specific findings.

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web search NEUTRAL — The findings are published in the journal Nature Physics. A tiny hill for quantum particles. The device is built from bilayer graphene, a material made of two sheets of carbon atoms. Using electrical …
https://phys.org/news/2026-08-graphene-device-fractional-ele…

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web search NEUTRAL — The results, published in Nature Physics, open a new window into the quantum realm and establish graphene as a unique tabletop laboratory for exploring hitherto unseen quantum phenomena.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/graphene-reveals-e…

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web search NEUTRAL — Researchers at the University of Göttingen have directly observed “Floquet states” in graphene for the first time. Their findings, published in Nature Physics, could lay the groundwork for a new gener…
https://elnano.com/research-boosts-graphenes-potential-to-un…

info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.