https://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. A research team led by Prof. Shao Dingfu at the Institute of Solid State Physics, the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, has unveiled a new mechanism for achieving strong spin polarization using antiferromagnetic metal interfaces. https://phys.org/news/2025-08-interface-antiferromagnetic-tunnel-junctions-path.html Condensed Matter Fri, 29 Aug 2025 13:52:03 EDT news675694321 The candidate pool for engineered materials that can help enable tomorrow's cutting-edge optical technologies—such as lasers, detectors and imaging devices—is much deeper than previously believed. https://phys.org/news/2025-06-pathways-previously-thought-optical-topological.html Optics & Photonics Tue, 24 Jun 2025 15:55:04 EDT news669999301 Magnetic fields can engineer flat bands in twisted graphene layers to create a new playground for exotic physics, RIKEN physicists have shown. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-adding-alternating-magnetic-field-layers.html Condensed Matter Thu, 05 Sep 2024 10:23:02 EDT news644750581 Using interference between two lasers, a research group led by scientists from RIKEN and NTT Research have created an "optical conveyor belt" that can move polaritons—a type of light-matter hybrid particle—in semiconductor-based microcavities. This work could lead to the development of new devices with applications in areas such as quantum metrology and quantum information. https://phys.org/news/2024-05-scientists-optical-conveyor-belt-quasiparticles.html Optics & Photonics Tue, 14 May 2024 08:50:04 EDT news634895401 A research team led by the Paul Scherrer Institute has spectroscopically observed the fractionalization of electronic charge in an iron-based metallic ferromagnet. Experimental observation of the phenomenon is not only of fundamental importance. Since it appears in an alloy of common metals at accessible temperatures, it holds potential for future exploitation in electronic devices. The discovery is published in the journal Nature. https://phys.org/news/2024-03-weird-electron-behavior-weirder-fractionalization.html Condensed Matter Wed, 06 Mar 2024 12:29:06 EST news628950541 There is now a new addition to the magnetic family: thanks to experiments at the Swiss Light Source SLS, researchers have proved the existence of altermagnetism. The experimental discovery of this new branch of magnetism is reported in Nature and signifies new fundamental physics, with major implications for spintronics. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-altermagnetism-magnetism-broad-implications-technology.html Condensed Matter Wed, 14 Feb 2024 11:00:01 EST news627129123 Weyl semimetals are highly sought after by material scientists. First predicted in the early 2010s, they belong to the class of topological materials that owe their unique transport, optical and thermoelectric behavior to distinct geometric and topological features, rather than to their chemical composition. What sets Weyl semimetals apart is that their electrons behave as if they are massless due to the presence of nodes in the electronic band structure, leading to unusual and interesting properties. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-widely-weyl-semimetal-shown-magnetic.html Condensed Matter Tue, 07 Nov 2023 09:22:03 EST news618571321 In many cases, cells are very active in their movement and serve as power generators. The ability of cells to produce physical forces is one of the basic functions of the body. When running, for example, the forces generated in the cells cause the muscles to contract and the breath to work. It has been possible to measure even the forces experienced by individual proteins by force sensors developed in the past, but previously intracellular forces and mechanical strains could not have been measured. https://phys.org/news/2023-08-team-nano-sized-sensor-high-precision-microscopy.html Cell & Microbiology Mon, 21 Aug 2023 11:59:40 EDT news611837971 LK-99 is the name of the material that is being hotly debated around the world these days: A Korean research group published results at the end of July 2023 on the preprint server arXiv suggesting that it could be a superconductor even at room temperature and normal atmospheric pressure. Superconductors known to date retain their properties only when either cooled to very low temperatures or subjected to extremely high pressure. https://phys.org/news/2023-08-newly-material-properties-advantageous-superconductivity.html Condensed Matter Thu, 03 Aug 2023 09:08:28 EDT news610272497 A research group led by Prof. Wu Kaifeng and Zhu Jingyi from the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences recently reported the observation of an excitonic Bloch-Siegert shift in CsPbI3 perovskite quantum dots (QDs), which advances current fundamental understanding for coherent light-matter interaction in low-dimensional solid-state materials. https://phys.org/news/2022-09-excitonic-bloch-siegert-shift-quantum-dots.html Quantum Physics Wed, 28 Sep 2022 09:29:02 EDT news583576139 Graphite is an incredibly important, versatile mineral, with uses spanning industries. Because graphite can easily conduct electricity and withstand high temperatures, it is especially important for electronics. Graphite is an essential component of many batteries, including lithium-ion batteries, and demand is only increasing as new technology is developed. https://phys.org/news/2022-07-furthers-electronic-graphite.html General Physics Tue, 19 Jul 2022 11:17:36 EDT news577448252 Researchers from Nanjing University and Beihang University in China and the Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter (MPSD) in Hamburg, Germany, have produced a new class of exciton with hybrid dimensionality by engineering the properties of layered silicon diphosphide (SiP₂). Their work has been published in Nature Materials. https://phys.org/news/2022-06-class-excitons-hybrid-dimensionality-layered.html Nanophysics Mon, 20 Jun 2022 14:04:03 EDT news574952641 Ever since the discovery of the quantum Hall effect (Nobel Prize 1985), symmetry has been the guiding principle in the search for topological materials. Now an international team of researchers from Germany, Switzerland, and the U.S. has introduced an alternative guiding principle, "quasi-symmetry," which leads to the discovery of a new type of topological material with great potential for applications in spintronics and quantum technologies. This work has been published in Nature Physics. https://phys.org/news/2022-05-quasi-symmetry-cosi-reveals-topological-material.html Quantum Physics Thu, 19 May 2022 11:36:03 EDT news572178960 Working with a quantum material known as a kagome magnet, a team of Boston College physicists and colleagues have directly measured how individual electronic quantum states in the novel material respond to external magnetic fields by shifting energy in an unusual manner, the researchers report in the latest online edition of the journal Nature Physics. https://phys.org/news/2022-03-external-magnetic-field-shift-electronic.html Condensed Matter Mon, 28 Mar 2022 12:25:45 EDT news567689138 Lay some graphene down on a wavy surface, and you'll get a guide to one possible future of two-dimensional electronics.  https://phys.org/news/2022-03-dont-underestimate-undulating-graphene-unique.html Nanomaterials Wed, 23 Mar 2022 10:54:22 EDT news567251642 A team led by the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory has found a rare quantum material in which electrons move in coordinated ways, essentially "dancing." Straining the material creates an electronic band structure that sets the stage for exotic, more tightly correlated behavior—akin to tangoing—among Dirac electrons, which are especially mobile electric charge carriers that may someday enable faster transistors. The results are published in the journal Science Advances. https://phys.org/news/2021-09-electrons-tango-perovskite-oxide-extreme.html Condensed Matter Wed, 29 Sep 2021 14:08:00 EDT news552143272 It took a nanoscale construction project on par with the much larger ones peppering Nebraska highways, but physicist Xia Hong is now directing the haphazard traffic of electrons well enough to analyze it—and, down the road, put it to use in next-gen technology. https://phys.org/news/2021-09-signature-approach-reveals-prized-property.html Nanophysics Wed, 22 Sep 2021 08:07:17 EDT news551516833 Two-dimensional (2D) materials and van der Waals (vdW) heterostructures are flexible materials with distinct atomic layers beyond traditional units of lattice-matching requirements. Nevertheless, the 2D van der Waals structures researchers have hitherto explored are limited to relatively simple heterostructures with a small number of blocks. It is exponentially more difficult to prepare high-order vdW superlattices with a myriad of alternating units due to their limited yield and the material damage associated with restacking or synthesis. https://phys.org/news/2021-04-high-order-superlattices-van-der-waals.html Nanophysics Tue, 06 Apr 2021 11:07:10 EDT news536926001 When physicists need to understand the quantum mechanics that describe how atomic clocks work, how your magnet sticks to your refrigerator or how particles flow through a superconductor, they use quantum field theories. https://phys.org/news/2021-03-physics-undergraduate-solution-quantum-field.html Quantum Physics Wed, 10 Mar 2021 10:03:14 EST news534592991 Without electronics and photonics, there would be no computers, smartphones, sensors, or information and communication technologies. In the coming years, the new field of phononics may further expand these options. That field is concerned with understanding and controlling lattice vibrations (phonons) in solids. In order to realize phononic devices, however, lattice vibrations have to be controlled as precisely as commonly realized in the case of electrons or photons. https://phys.org/news/2021-03-skills-graphene-tunable-lattice-vibrations.html Nanomaterials Mon, 01 Mar 2021 12:08:24 EST news533822902 In groundbreaking materials research, a team led by University of Minnesota Professor K. Andre Mkhoyan has made a discovery that blends the best of two sought-after qualities for touchscreens and smart windows—transparency and conductivity. https://phys.org/news/2021-01-nature-crystal-revealed-magnification-million.html Materials Science Fri, 15 Jan 2021 16:08:00 EST news529949273 Scientists have recently revealed, both theoretically and experimentally, that germanium atoms can arrange themselves into a 2-D "bi-triangular" lattice on zirconium diboride thin films grown on germanium single crystals to form a "flat band material" with an embedded "kagome" lattice. The result provides experimental support to a theoretical prediction of flat bands emerging from trivial atomic geometry and indicates the possibility of their existence in many more materials. https://phys.org/news/2020-12-electrons-falling-flat-germanium-falls.html General Physics Fri, 04 Dec 2020 10:11:18 EST news526299070 Scientists at Tokyo Institute of Technology shed light on the relationship between the magnetic properties of topological insulators and their electronic band structure. Their experimental results offer new insights into recent debates regarding the evolution of the band structure with temperature in these materials, which exhibit unusual quantum phenomena and are envisioned to be crucial in next-generation electronics, spintronics, and quantum computers. https://phys.org/news/2020-09-bridging-gap-magnetic-electronic-properties.html General Physics Thu, 24 Sep 2020 12:50:01 EDT news520170208 An Australian-led study uses a scanning-tunneling microscope "trick" to map electronic structure in Na3Bi, seeking an answer to that material's extremely high electron mobility. https://phys.org/news/2020-08-unexpectedly-fast-electrons-na3bi.html Quantum Physics Mon, 17 Aug 2020 09:05:35 EDT news516873932 Emitting light from silicon has been the Holy Grail in the microelectronics industry for decades. Solving this puzzle would revolutionize computing, as chips will become faster than ever. Researchers from Eindhoven University of Technology have now developed an alloy with silicon that can emit light. The results have been published in the journal Nature. The team will now develop a silicon laser to be integrated into current chips. https://phys.org/news/2020-04-revolutionary-light-emitting-silicon.html Condensed Matter Wed, 08 Apr 2020 11:00:01 EDT news505561831 Thermoelectric materials technology can convert between heat and electricity within a materials construct, but many existing materials contain rare or toxic elements. In a new study on Science, Wenke He and colleagues reported the temperature dependent interplay between three separate electronic bands in hole-doped tin sulfide (SnS) crystals. The materials behaviour allowed synergistic optimization between effective mass (m*) and carrier mobility (µ), which the research team boosted by introducing selenium (Se). https://phys.org/news/2019-10-high-thermoelectric-low-cost-sns091se009-crystals.html Materials Science Tue, 08 Oct 2019 09:40:01 EDT news489744175 Taking their name from an intricate Japanese basket pattern, kagome magnets are thought to have electronic properties that could be valuable for future quantum devices and applications. Theories predict that some electrons in these materials have exotic, so-called topological behaviors and others behave somewhat like graphene, another material prized for its potential for new types of electronics. https://phys.org/news/2019-02-quantum-magnet-topological.html General Physics Fri, 22 Feb 2019 13:13:04 EST news470063569 Scientists at HZB have found evidence that double layers of graphene have a property that may let them conduct current completely without resistance. They probed the band structure at BESSY II with extremely high resolution ARPES and could identify a flat area at a surprising location. Their research is published in Science Advances. https://phys.org/news/2018-11-graphene-superconductivity.html Nanomaterials Fri, 09 Nov 2018 14:00:01 EST news460969711 It's hard to believe that a single material can be described by as many superlatives as graphene can. Since its discovery in 2004, scientists have found that the lacy, honeycomb-like sheet of carbon atoms - essentially the most microscopic shaving of pencil lead you can imagine - is not just the thinnest material known in the world, but also incredibly light and flexible, hundreds of times stronger than steel, and more electrically conductive than copper. https://phys.org/news/2018-03-rotated-magic-angle-graphene-sheets.html Nanophysics Mon, 05 Mar 2018 11:00:25 EST news439452384 For the first time, physicists have developed a technique that can peer deep beneath the surface of a material to identify the energies and momenta of electrons there. https://phys.org/news/2017-11-scientists-technique-energy-momentum-electrons.html General Physics Thu, 16 Nov 2017 14:00:17 EST news430048555