A significant breakthrough has been achieved by quantum physicists from Dresden and Würzburg. They’ve created a semiconductor device where exceptional robustness and sensitivity are ensured by a quantum phenomenon. This topological skin effect shields the functionality of the device from external perturbations, allowing for measurements of unprecedented precision. This remarkable advance results from the clever arrangement of contacts on the aluminum-gallium-arsenide material. It unlocks potential for high-precision quantum modules in topological physics, bringing these materials into the semiconductor industry's focus.

Measurement of the non-Hermitian skin effect via iteration for the OBC setup. a, Elements of the initial, randomly generated current vector displayed in polar coordinates for a six-site setup. b, Flow chart of the iterative procedure. c, Final current configuration in the system after 40 iterations. d, Evolution of the phase of each vector element versus the iteration number. e, Evolution of the amplitude of each element versus the iteration number, in units of the largest injected current (150 nA). This final current configuration shows an exponential decay as a function of the lead index, from 6 to 1 (from dark to light blue), which is a direct manifestation of the non-Hermitian skin effect in experiment.