U.S. and European scientists have created an artificial nanomaterial for use in electronic applications. The new material was developed through a collaboration of the theory group of Professor Philippe Ghosez at the University of Li��ge, Belgium, and an experimental group of Professor Jean-Marc Triscone of the University of Geneva, Switzerland.

Matthew Dawber, of Stony Brook University's department of physics and astronomy, is part of the continued effort to make and understand such revolutionary artificial materials.

Dawber said the nanomaterial -- a superlattice that has a multilayer structure composed of alternating atomically thin layers of two different oxides -- possesses properties radically different compared to either of the two materials by themselves. The new properties are driven by interactions at the atomic scale at the interfaces between the layers.

"Besides the immediate applications that could be generated by this nanomaterial, this discovery opens a completely new field of investigation and the possibility of new functional materials based on a new concept: interface engineering on the atomic scale," said Dawber.

The researchers said their findings demonstrate the possibility of creating radically different materials by engineering on the atomic scale.

The study is reported in the journal Nature.