Phys.org has reported:

A “carpet” growth method has yielded a long-sought two-dimensional quantum material, according to the source headline. Physicists have sought a practical two-dimensional topological insulator for decades.

The ultrathin material blocks electricity through its interior while allowing its edges to conduct. In ordinary wires, electrons repeatedly hit imperfections and lose energy. At the insulator’s edges, electrons with opposite spins move in opposite directions, like traffic in one-way lanes, and rarely scatter.