Researchers have found that the topological material trisodium bismuthide (Na₃Bi) can be manufactured to be as ‘electronically smooth’ as the highest-quality graphene-based alternative, while maintaining graphene’s high electron mobility.

Na₃Bi is a Topological Dirac Semimetal (TDS), considered a 3D equivalent of graphene in that it shows the same extraordinarily high electron mobility.

In graphene, as in a TDS, electrons move at constant velocity, independent of their energy.