https://phys.org/physics-news/materials/ en-us The latest news on Physics, Materials, Science and Technology Researchers at The University of Manchester have revealed how intense electronic excitation can trigger rapid structural changes in metals—without heating the atomic lattice—offering new insight into ultrafast materials behavior. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-hot-electrons-reshape-metals-billionths.html Condensed Matter Tue, 28 Jul 2026 10:30:01 EDT news704452041 A new concept from Warwick researchers could help solve one of the biggest challenges to building large-scale quantum computers: enabling communication between vast numbers of quantum bits (qubits) over long distances across a single chip. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-quantum-chip-architecture-built-vibrations.html Condensed Matter Mon, 27 Jul 2026 17:10:01 EDT news704387701 A fleeting photoinduced electronic state and the subsequent formation of a photoinduced hidden state in a metal–organic framework were captured in just 30 femtoseconds by researchers at Science Tokyo, Tohoku University and Nagoya Institute of Technology, Japan. By combining ultrafast laser spectroscopy with theoretical analysis, the researchers found that a transient electronic state plays a key role in this process. The findings provide new insights into controlling material properties with light for future applications. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-reveals-transient-electronic-hidden-state.html Condensed Matter Mon, 27 Jul 2026 16:30:01 EDT news704386981 Integrated photonic devices—tiny circuits that use light instead of electrons—are becoming increasingly important for scalable photonics technologies and high-bandwidth communications. They are particularly valuable for managing low-power, light-based data transfer inside data centers, which are needed for artificial intelligence, cloud computing and high-performance signal processing. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-highly-tunable-electro-optic-isolator.html Condensed Matter Mon, 27 Jul 2026 14:00:05 EDT news704371862 A new study published in Nature Physics reports the first direct experimental evidence of a Floquet topological state, a novel light-induced phase of matter that, until now, has existed only on paper and in simulations. Topological insulators can conduct electricity along their surface while remaining insulating throughout their bulk. Physicists have spent years developing Floquet engineering, a technique that uses intense, rapidly oscillating light fields to temporarily reshape a material's electronic structure. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-physicists-capture-evidence-floquet-topological.html Condensed Matter Mon, 27 Jul 2026 08:00:01 EDT news704113591 One of Europe's highest distinctions in condensed matter physics has been awarded for a discovery that is reshaping our understanding of magnetism: The 2026 Europhysics Prize of the European Physical Society (EPS) Condensed Matter Division goes to Professor Jairo Sinova of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU), Dr. Libor Šmejkal and Professor Tomas Jungwirth for their discovery of altermagnetism—a previously unknown fundamental class of magnetism. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-prize-honors-discovery-altermagnetism-fundamental.html Condensed Matter Fri, 24 Jul 2026 23:00:01 EDT news704119959 Animals and electronic devices aren't the only things with memory. Materials can retain memories of past deformations in their microscopic structure. A common example is a crease in a sheet of paper that has been folded then unfolded. Understanding this type of memory could benefit the design of materials that respond to changes in their environment in predictable ways. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-chocolate-syrup-fluid-multiple-interacting.html Condensed Matter Thu, 23 Jul 2026 17:50:02 EDT news704043002 Efficient heat management in solids is key to advancing the next generation of electronics. However, wave-like heat movement—known as phonon focusing—had been observed only at extremely low, or cryogenic, temperatures, limiting its study and practical use. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-quantum-room-temperature.html Condensed Matter Thu, 23 Jul 2026 17:30:01 EDT news704041322 Researchers at the University of Würzburg have succeeded in detecting exceptionally robust electrical transport in a topological insulator. This could lead to new metrological applications. The work is published in the journal Nature Communications. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-simple-circuit-topological-insulators-closer.html Condensed Matter Thu, 23 Jul 2026 17:10:01 EDT news704041081 In most everyday materials, such as copper, silver and silicon, the behavior of electrons is relatively predictable. In quantum materials, however, electrons can interact in complex ways, giving rise to collective electronic states with remarkable properties. Understanding how these states emerge—and, ultimately, how to control them—is one of the central challenges in quantum materials research. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-striped-checkered-magnetic-field-electronic.html Condensed Matter Thu, 23 Jul 2026 05:00:10 EDT news703933441 Researchers at the University of Michigan have created a device that enables them to control the flow of electrons through a semiconductor using only laser light—no electrical power source required. The device was built to explore fundamental physics and realize a previously unobserved behavior, but it could also open doors for new applications in areas that bridge optics and electronics, including sensing, imaging and telecommunications. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-lasers-aim-electron-currents-semiconductor.html Condensed Matter Tue, 21 Jul 2026 16:40:08 EDT news703859101 Artificial intelligence faces an energy crisis stemming from a physical traffic jam inside modern computer chips. Processors must continually shuffle data, such as the billions of parameters in complex models, between separate computing and memory nodes. This traffic jam, known as the "von Neumann bottleneck," hinders the speed and energy efficiency of advanced processors. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-quantum-microscope-illuminates-transistor.html Condensed Matter Tue, 21 Jul 2026 16:20:11 EDT news703858561 Graphene has long been regarded as one of the most promising materials for future electronics, but its relatively weak electron interactions have limited its potential for applications such as high-temperature superconductivity. Now, researchers from Tohoku University have overcome a major obstacle by creating a stable version of the long-sought "boron graphene" on the surface of a three-dimensional crystal, revealing a new quantum state that could lead to more energy-efficient electronic devices. The findings were published in Science Advances on July 2, 2026. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-scientists-stable-boron-graphene-uncover.html Condensed Matter Thu, 16 Jul 2026 12:20:10 EDT news703407615 The properties of ultrathin magnets can be specifically altered by a slight twist between two atomic monolayers. This is the conclusion reached by an international research team led by TU Darmstadt in a study published in Nature Communications. The findings open new prospects for future memory devices. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-ultrathin-magnet-retains-magnetization-field.html Condensed Matter Tue, 14 Jul 2026 09:20:01 EDT news703232989 Researchers at City College of New York physicist Vinod M. Menon's Laboratory for Nano and Micro Photonics (LaNMP) have outlined an emerging frontier in quantum materials: atomically thin systems in which light, magnetism and electric charge are strongly intertwined. This rapidly evolving field could enable next-generation optoelectronic and quantum technologies leveraging the coupled dynamics of light, charge and spin. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-frontier-quantum-materials.html Condensed Matter Tue, 14 Jul 2026 09:00:02 EDT news703232979 Researchers at The University of Manchester have developed a new computational approach to help identify two-dimensional materials that may host unusual quantum behavior. The work, published in Science Advances, focuses on materials with "flat bands," electronic states where electrons have very little kinetic energy. In these materials, interactions between electrons can become much more important, creating conditions linked to phenomena such as magnetism, unconventional superconductivity and topological electronic behavior. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-physics-based-machine-method-2d.html Condensed Matter Thu, 09 Jul 2026 15:10:02 EDT news702822058 By combining approaches from two rapidly growing fields of quantum physics, researchers at Penn State and Saint Louis University have demonstrated that a novel specialized material can naturally enable a new way to study unusual physical phenomena known as non-Hermitian dynamics. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-quantum-material-path-unusual-electronic.html Condensed Matter Thu, 09 Jul 2026 14:10:03 EDT news702822021 Advanced magnetic memory and spintronic devices rely on the ability to control magnetic states using electricity. Today, such technologies work by manipulating relatively simple magnetic structures found in ferromagnets, where all the magnetic moments point the same way. However, researchers are becoming increasingly interested in controlling more complex magnetic systems because these could offer higher information density and improved efficiency. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-route-electrically-helimagnetic.html General Physics Thu, 09 Jul 2026 07:48:24 EDT news702802030 If a liquid is cooled slowly to its freezing point, it becomes a crystal in which the constituent particles are arranged in an ordered pattern. In contrast, when the liquid is cooled very quickly, the particles are unable to arrange themselves in an ordered fashion, and it becomes glass. Glassy materials are all around us in everyday life. Common examples include window glass, certain metal alloys, polymers, foams, gels and even soft materials like emulsions and colloids. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-glasses-suddenly-deform-smoothly.html General Physics Wed, 08 Jul 2026 19:00:05 EDT news702746156 Researchers from The Grainger College of Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have developed the first magnetic multipole-based micromagnetic model for antiferromagnets. Published in Applied Physics Reviews, their generalized framework provides a theoretical and computational foundation for designing future spintronic devices made with antiferromagnetic materials. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-magnetic-octupole-captures-domain-wall.html Condensed Matter Tue, 07 Jul 2026 16:20:09 EDT news702658045 It was a journey to the center of the Earth, if only for the briefest of moments. But rather than tunneling thousands of miles from Earth's surface, researchers from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and several universities used the National Ignition Facility (NIF) to recreate the extreme temperature and pressure conditions of Earth's inner core. This enabled the first-ever simultaneous measurement of iron's dynamic strength at relevant temperatures and pressures. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-iron-motion-earth-core-conditions.html Condensed Matter Tue, 07 Jul 2026 13:30:03 EDT news702648393 Researchers from the Quantum Hardware group at CIC nanoGUNE, in collaboration with the British company Quantum Motion, have demonstrated an advanced readout sensor for spin qubits that, while being more compact than previous designs, can reach the level of readout precision needed to implement quantum error correction protocols. The study has been published in the journal Nature Sensors. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-ultra-compact-sensor-paves-powerful.html Condensed Matter Tue, 07 Jul 2026 13:20:01 EDT news702639003 Electrons, negatively charged particles, sometimes coordinate their movements in ways that produce certain collective excitations referred to as quasiparticles. One case in which this occurs is the quantum Hall effect, a phenomenon that emerges when electrons are confined to a very thin layer, cooled to temperatures around 0 kelvin and exposed to a very strong magnetic field. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-evidence-elusive-high-energy-gravitons.html Condensed Matter Tue, 07 Jul 2026 10:00:08 EDT news702543513 Physicists have long puzzled over a strange contradiction inside a family of minerals called rutile oxides. These materials all share the same crystal structure—but while some of them, like titanium dioxide, are firmly insulating, others, like ruthenium dioxide, conduct electricity like a metal. So far, physicists have had little idea of why this happens. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-metallic-rutile-oxides-cooling.html Condensed Matter Tue, 07 Jul 2026 09:00:09 EDT news702627994 Ferromagnetism has long been studied in a wide range of periodic crystals and amorphous materials. In quasicrystals (QCs), which possess long-range quasiperiodic order and unconventional rotational symmetries, such as 10-fold symmetry, ferromagnetism remained elusive until recently, when it was finally realized in gold (Au)-based icosahedral QCs. These discoveries establish QCs as a third platform for magnetism beyond periodic crystals and amorphous materials. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-bulk-ferromagnetic-quasicrystals-emerge-rapid.html Condensed Matter Tue, 07 Jul 2026 06:00:01 EDT news702571031 Magnetic storage devices, like a computer's hard disk drive, utilize magnets to represent binary data. However, as these devices are downsized, stray magnetic fields generated by individual magnetic components can interact with neighboring elements to cause operational malfunctions, limiting how much data we can densely pack into memory devices. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-magnetic-chirality-memory.html Condensed Matter Sun, 05 Jul 2026 06:40:02 EDT news702292237 A German-Japanese research team involving the University of Augsburg has made a significant breakthrough in the use of antiferromagnets. For the first time, the team has succeeded in writing magnetic information using only ultrashort laser pulses—without the need for electric currents or magnetic fields. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-optical-antiferromagnets-storage-devices-energy.html Condensed Matter Sat, 04 Jul 2026 16:00:03 EDT news702223904 Researchers at ETH Zurich have developed a method that uses a single ion to detect electromagnetic fields above a surface and to create a three-dimensional map of them. In the future, this approach can be used to improve chips for quantum computers and quantum sensors. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-ion-3d-electromagnetic-fields-chips.html Condensed Matter Thu, 02 Jul 2026 18:20:04 EDT news702223023 Researchers at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) are the first to directly utilize orbital currents without the need for conversion of the orbital current into a spin current. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-orbitronics-key-hurdle-orbital-currents.html Condensed Matter Thu, 02 Jul 2026 17:10:01 EDT news702229681 Quantum materials, materials exhibiting physical behavior governed by the laws of quantum mechanics, have proved promising for the development of numerous advanced technologies, including quantum technologies, memory devices and solar panels. In some of these materials, electrons can collectively arrange themselves in unusual patterns, giving rise to states that cannot be explained by classical physics theories. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-spontaneous-current-loops-kagome-metal.html Condensed Matter Thu, 02 Jul 2026 15:20:07 EDT news702218355