Disorder and illumination
Douglas Natelson (noreply@blogger.com)
No, this is not another grim post about the chaotic US research funding environment. Instead I wanted to write a bit about a good example of empiricism in experimental condensed matter physics, the use of illumination to (somewhat but not entirely mysteriously) improve electronic transport in 2D electronic systems. This story goes back decades, and it's all about the role of "disorder" and its effects on electronic conduction. It's been appreciated since the 1930s that, at low temperatures so