https://phys.org/physics-news/materials/ en-us The latest news on Physics, Materials, Science and Technology Researchers at Lund University have developed a new type of light-emitting diode based on thin, branched nanowires that could offer significantly higher efficiency and lower production costs than current technology. By controlling where in the structure the light is generated, the researchers have reduced the losses that would otherwise limit the amount of light that can be used. Their study is published in the journal Nano Research. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-significant-efficiency-gains.html Condensed Matter Fri, 04 Sep 2026 18:00:02 EDT news707748782 A joint research team from NIMS and the University of Tokyo has developed a new composite in which three-dimensional nano-interfaces are distributed throughout the material by coating the surfaces of magnetic-insulator powders with a metal and sintering them. Using this structure, the team succeeded in observing thermoelectric conversion driven by spins in an insulator, a phenomenon previously observed only at nanoscale thin-film interfaces, in a macroscale material. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-embedded-platinum-channels-nanoscale-based.html Condensed Matter Fri, 04 Sep 2026 15:40:02 EDT news707742782 Detecting radiation is key to technologies ranging from particle accelerators and scientific instruments to medical imaging and security screening. But current detectors must often make trade-offs, providing signals that are strong but slow or fast but weak. The trade-off between signal strength and speed can limit precision detection. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-ultrafast-electrons-lasers-reveal-unexpectedly.html Condensed Matter Fri, 04 Sep 2026 12:40:06 EDT news707738641 An international collaboration of researchers has used ANSTO's facilities to uncover new properties of one of the most fundamental everyday materials, water, and answer an important scientific question. The findings, published in Nature Communications, have practical implications for understanding water at very low temperatures. The findings are relevant to cryopreservation of biological materials, food-freezing technologies and understanding water in living cells, where it is often confined at the nanoscale. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-soft-nanoscale-confinement-ice-exposing.html Condensed Matter Thu, 03 Sep 2026 19:40:01 EDT news707669463 Heat, it turns out, has a memory. A cooling cup of coffee may not seem particularly thoughtful. At the scale of a kitchen, heat appears to follow a straightforward rule: it moves from warmer places to cooler ones. Leave the cup unattended long enough, and the disappointing result offers convincing evidence that this rule works. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-memory-theoretical-framework-track.html General Physics Thu, 03 Sep 2026 10:00:08 EDT news707644802 Using an engineered metasurface that traps light, Cornell researchers have demonstrated a new way to generate strong static magnetic fields without using external magnets or magnetic materials—an approach that could advance spintronics, quantum and photonic computing, and data storage. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-generates-nanoscale-magnetization.html Condensed Matter Wed, 02 Sep 2026 18:40:01 EDT news707583061 Physicists at the University of Graz (Austria), in collaboration with colleagues from Marburg University and Forschungszentrum Jülich (Germany), have achieved a scientific breakthrough. For the first time, the generation of electrical energy from light has been filmed and described theoretically. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-ultrafast-snapshots-reveal-moments-electricity.html Condensed Matter Tue, 01 Sep 2026 11:20:03 EDT news707473621 One of the central ideas in modern physics is the phase transition—a sudden transformation of the state of a material. We encounter phase transitions throughout everyday life: water freezes into ice, wax melts in the warmth of a flame, and water vapor condenses into droplets on a cold window. In these familiar examples, the atoms themselves rearrange into a new structure, giving the material entirely different properties. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-faint-infrared-insulator-metal-transition.html Condensed Matter Mon, 31 Aug 2026 18:20:03 EDT news707384285 Metal-insulator transitions (MITs), in which a material changes from a metallic state with low resistivity to an insulating state because of a change in an external parameter, such as temperature, pressure or an electric field, are a central topic in fundamental physics research. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-crystal-reveals-joule-stabilizes-resistive.html Condensed Matter Mon, 31 Aug 2026 17:40:03 EDT news707405701 Carnegie Mellon University scientists have uncovered a new phenomenon that challenges a longstanding assumption about how electronic materials respond to magnetic fields. The discovery broadens the fundamental understanding of the Hall effect, a principle widely used to measure the magnetic and electronic properties of materials. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-physicists-hall-effect.html Condensed Matter Mon, 31 Aug 2026 09:20:07 EDT news707385286 Electrons, particles that carry a negative electric charge, typically move through materials. At low densities and temperatures, however, the electrical repulsion between them can overpower their tendency to move, prompting them to arrange themselves into ordered patterns known as Wigner crystals. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-reveals-internal-motion-electron-crystals.html Condensed Matter Fri, 28 Aug 2026 09:00:03 EDT news706964413 Efficiently controlling heat generation has become a major challenge as the semiconductors used in smartphones, computers and similar devices have become higher-performing and more miniaturized. The way heat is transmitted is determined by the vibration of the atoms that constitute a material, but it is not easy to directly examine, at the atomic scale, how neighboring atoms vibrate in coordination with one another. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-vibrations-neighboring-atoms-atomic-scale.html Condensed Matter Wed, 26 Aug 2026 14:20:03 EDT news706961521 Scientists from the National University of Singapore (NUS), in collaboration with Los Alamos National Laboratory in the United States, have uncovered that a class of nickel-based materials known as samarium (Sm)-based infinite-layer nickelates can regain their superconducting ability under strong magnetic fields. This behavior could open a promising pathway toward superconducting technologies that can operate under extreme magnetic conditions. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-high-magnetic-fields-revive-superconductivity.html Condensed Matter Wed, 26 Aug 2026 10:40:04 EDT news706956602 Detecting short-wave infrared (SWIR) light, a region of the electromagnetic spectrum just beyond the light visible to the human eye, could be advantageous for many real-world applications. For instance, it could enable more advanced systems for capturing images at night, as well as sophisticated medical imaging, environmental monitoring and industrial inspection technologies. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-hyperdoped-silicon-photodiode-advances-short.html Condensed Matter Wed, 26 Aug 2026 08:00:06 EDT news706796840 Diffusion is a fundamental natural phenomenon that can be observed across a wide range of length and time scales. It plays a key role in many fields, including physics, biology and economics. In particular, asymmetric or directional diffusion of particle systems has attracted growing interest for practical applications, including the development of unconventional artificial intelligence (AI) hardware, where it could enable nonlinear, geometry-controlled information processing. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-simulations-reveal-asymmetric-diffusion-magnetic.html Condensed Matter Tue, 25 Aug 2026 15:20:01 EDT news706877941 A team of scientists from Caltech and Yale University has shown for the first time how to accurately quantify an important quantum phenomenon in metals, called the Kondo effect, for specific real materials. Unlike previous approaches, which for decades have relied on simplified models to qualitatively describe the effect, the new work uses the actual atomic and electronic structures of materials to solve the problem directly. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-chemical-physicists-quantitatively-electron-interactions.html Condensed Matter Tue, 25 Aug 2026 12:20:05 EDT news706870561 For decades, physicists have used a technique called Mössbauer spectroscopy to peer inside solid materials, revealing fine details of their surroundings by studying how their atomic nuclei absorb and re-emit gamma rays. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-thorium-sites-pave-nuclear-clocks.html General Physics Mon, 24 Aug 2026 14:40:04 EDT news706793098 In the physical sense, glass is not limited to familiar window glass; it forms whenever a liquid is cooled so quickly that it cannot crystallize. As a result, glass has an amorphous structure—that is, its "building blocks" are not arranged regularly as in crystals. At the same time, however, glass is as resistant to deformation as a crystalline solid. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-closer-ideal-glass-simulations-reveal.html Condensed Matter Mon, 24 Aug 2026 13:40:03 EDT news706792561 Superconductors are materials that carry electrical current with zero resistance below a specific critical temperature. In conventional superconductors, the transition to superconductivity generally occurs at very low temperatures. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-superconducting-gap-ultrathin-nickelate-defies.html Condensed Matter Sun, 23 Aug 2026 10:10:01 EDT news706441308 Quasiparticles arise from the complex interaction of many particles in solids; for example, we describe lattice vibrations in crystals as phonons. Fractons are exotic quasiparticles that occur at the vertices of magnetic domain walls between different spin orders. What makes them special is that they are virtually immobile and can only be displaced by other fractons. In theory, this limited mobility could be exploited to robustly store quantum information. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-realistic-solid-state-fractons-quantum.html Condensed Matter Fri, 21 Aug 2026 15:20:03 EDT news706535537 A research team led by Yang Lu from the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the Faculty of Engineering, The University of Hong Kong (HKU), has uncovered the microscopic physical nature of ultralarge elasticity in covalent semiconductors such as silicon and diamond. The discovery provides quantitative guidance for deep elastic strain engineering (DESE), paving the way for the development of next-generation electronic, optoelectronic and quantum devices. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-silicon-diamond-extreme-reversible.html Condensed Matter Thu, 20 Aug 2026 16:20:06 EDT news706448821 Sand, powders, and other collections of visible-sized grains are found throughout daily life, from food and pharmaceuticals to soils and industrial materials. When grains of similar size are arranged regularly, they can form a strong crystal-like solid. Yet what happens inside such an ordered structure immediately before it begins to break has remained unclear. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-soft-vibrations-reveal-granular-crystals.html General Physics Wed, 19 Aug 2026 15:00:03 EDT news706356961 Close to a phase transition, very different materials can follow the same mathematical rules. The concept of universality, which groups seemingly distinct systems based on their common properties, was developed to describe this phenomenon. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-range-magnetic-interactions-ferrimagnet-approaches.html General Physics Tue, 18 Aug 2026 10:20:01 EDT news706264082 Superconductors are materials in which electrical current flows with a resistance of zero, typically below specific temperatures. In conventional superconductors, this state of matter emerges when two electrons bind together at low temperatures, forming so-called Cooper pairs. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-unusual-superconductivity-emerge-valley-imbalanced.html Condensed Matter Tue, 18 Aug 2026 09:40:03 EDT news706179882 Researchers at Monash University have predicted a new type of quantum matter that challenges decades of thinking about how ultracold particles behave. The paper, "Quantum droplets in a resonant Bose-Fermi mixture," is published in Physical Review Letters. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-physicists-quantum.html Condensed Matter Mon, 17 Aug 2026 14:20:03 EDT news706186441 An electron is supposed to be indivisible. It carries one fundamental unit of electric charge, and every electron is exactly the same. But under extreme conditions, large numbers of electrons act together and give rise to new quantum objects called quasiparticles. These act as if they carry only a fraction of an electron's charge, making them one of the strangest phenomena in modern physics. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-graphene-device-fractional-electric-quantum.html Condensed Matter Mon, 17 Aug 2026 13:40:10 EDT news706185841 A study has been published in Nature Communications that identifies an unusual regime of quantum oscillations in a three-dimensional topological insulator. The results show that, when subjected to temperatures near absolute zero and extreme magnetic fields, electrons in the material zirconium pentatelluride (ZrTe₅) exhibit behavior that deviates from the pattern predicted by conventional theory. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-anomalous-quantum-oscillations-reveal-physics.html Condensed Matter Mon, 17 Aug 2026 10:40:05 EDT news706178521 Researchers at Rice University have found that gently squeezing a crystal of iron sulfide can change two of its unusual properties at the same time: its tiny magnetic signal and the way electricity moves through it. The result gives scientists a clearer picture of how a newly recognized class of magnetic materials works and suggests a simple way to control their behavior. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-small-reveals-clues-unusual-kind.html Condensed Matter Sun, 16 Aug 2026 14:40:01 EDT news705895000 Time-reversal symmetry is an exotic behavior found in systems whose internal physics looks different when running forward versus backward in time. For some time, physicists have searched for this behavior in systems with almost no overall magnetization. Such phases are highly prized for spintronics, where information is carried using the quantum spins of electrons. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-strain-flips-hall-altermagnetic-manganese.html Condensed Matter Sun, 16 Aug 2026 12:00:04 EDT news705839192 Fusion reactors, devices that generate energy by fusing light atomic nuclei at extremely high temperatures, could contribute to ongoing efforts aimed at producing electricity more sustainably. The extreme environment inside these devices, however, can damage materials that surround the superheated, electrically charged plasma where the nuclear fusion reaction takes place. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-tungsten-fusion-reactors.html Condensed Matter Sat, 15 Aug 2026 08:40:01 EDT news705839207