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. Researchers from the Institute of Physics in Zagreb have shown that depositing a thin layer of organic molecules on two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors can improve their optical properties and even repair defects. Their work, published in Surfaces and Interfaces, could help improve the performance of 2D materials in (opto)electronics and photonics. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-molecule-deposition-2d-materials-defect.html Nanomaterials Sat, 17 Jan 2026 07:20:01 EST news687715883 Researchers at the Nano Life Science Institute (WPI-NanoLSI), Kanazawa University, report in ACS Applied Nano Materials a new method to precisely measure nuclear elasticity—the stiffness or softness of the cell nucleus—in living cells. https://phys.org/news/2025-11-scanning-nanoprobe-microscope-reveals-hidden.html Bio & Medicine Thu, 06 Nov 2025 09:18:04 EST news681643081 In a recent study that merges supramolecular chemistry and molecular electronics, a research team has demonstrated how supramolecular porphyrin-based cages can enable tunable photoresponsive charge transport (CT) behaviors in solid-state devices. The findings could pave the way for more versatile and controllable molecular components in optoelectronic applications. https://phys.org/news/2025-05-photoresponsive-cages-tunable-supramolecular-electronics.html Nanophysics Tue, 13 May 2025 09:56:06 EDT news666348962 Diamonds with certain optically active defects can be used as highly sensitive sensors or qubits for quantum computers, where the quantum information is stored in the electron spin state of these color centers. However, the spin states have to be read out optically, which is often experimentally complex. Now, a team at HZB has developed an elegant method using a photo voltage to detect the individual and local spin states of these defects. This could lead to a much more compact design of quantum sensors. https://phys.org/news/2025-04-elegant-method-photovoltage.html Condensed Matter Tue, 15 Apr 2025 14:24:03 EDT news663945842 A research team led by Xuesong Mei and Jianlei Cui from Xi'an Jiaotong University has made significant progress in the field of nanotechnology. They have successfully achieved the direct writing of nanostructures on Au nano-film using a nanosecond-laser-irradiated cantilevered scanning near-field optical microscopy (SNOM) probe tip. https://phys.org/news/2024-11-advances-nanostructure-fabrication-laser-au.html Nanomaterials Mon, 04 Nov 2024 09:32:18 EST news649935125 The feature size of silicon-based transistors is approaching the theoretical limit, which puts forward higher requirements for the atomic level manufacturing of semiconductors. The basic idea of atomic level manufacturing is to process and manipulate matters with atomic level precision, which will greatly reduce the power consumption of the chip and achieve a huge increase in the chip's arithmetic power. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-energy-ion-implantation-enables-2d.html Nanophysics Mon, 02 Sep 2024 13:33:04 EDT news644502782 Scientists from the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry Prague, the Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, and Palacký University Olomouc, have once again successfully uncovered the mysteries of the world of molecules and atoms. https://phys.org/news/2023-08-scientists-decades-old-theory-non-uniform-electron.html Nanomaterials Tue, 29 Aug 2023 09:12:39 EDT news612519139 The invention of scanning probe microscopy (SPM) techniques, including scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM), has led to a paradigm shift in the visualization and understanding of surface structures and related properties at the atomic scale. In most imaging cases, the SPM tip only acts as a perfect probe to characterize the intrinsic properties of the surfaces and adsorbed molecules, and the influence of the tip is usually ignored. https://phys.org/news/2023-01-molecular-tilting-red-shifted-ters.html Analytical Chemistry Wed, 18 Jan 2023 09:26:03 EST news593256361 A team of researchers from NYU Abu Dhabi's Advanced Microfluidics and Microdevices Laboratory (AMMLab) have developed new kind of Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) probes in true three-dimensional shapes they call 3DTIPs. AFM technology allows scientists to observe, measure, and manipulate samples and micro and nanoscale entities with unprecedented precision. The new 3DTIPs, which are manufactured using a single-step 3D printing process, can be utilized for a wider variety of applications—and potential observations and discoveries—than standard, more limited silicon-based probes that are considered state-of-the-art in our current time. https://phys.org/news/2022-07-3d-atomic-microscopy-probes.html General Physics Tue, 26 Jul 2022 13:30:19 EDT news578060971 National University of Singapore scientists have demonstrated the non-invasive imaging of both the organic layers and underlying inorganic lattice of two-dimensional (2D) hybrid perovskites at the sub-angstrom level. https://phys.org/news/2022-07-sub-angstrom-noninvasive-imaging-atomic-2d.html Nanomaterials Wed, 06 Jul 2022 08:52:03 EDT news576316321 A team of researchers at The University of Manchester's National Graphene Institute (NGI) and the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) has demonstrated that slightly twisted 2D transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) display room-temperature ferroelectricity. https://phys.org/news/2022-03-2d-semiconductors-built-in-memory-functions.html Nanomaterials Thu, 03 Mar 2022 10:44:04 EST news565526641 It is attractive to convert CO2 into multicarbon hydrocarbons and oxygenates (C2+ products), but it is challenging to enhance the kinetics of carbon-carbon (C-C) coupling during CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR). https://phys.org/news/2022-01-cu-interface-co2-electroreduction.html Materials Science Mon, 24 Jan 2022 09:26:25 EST news562238783 From the discovery of microorganisms in the field of biology to imaging atoms in the field of physics, microscopic imaging has improved our understanding of the world and has been responsible for many scientific advances. Now, with the advent of spintronics and miniature magnetic devices, there is a growing need for imaging at nanometer scales to detect quantum properties of matter, such as electron spins, magnetic domain structure in ferromagnets, and magnetic vortices in superconductors. https://phys.org/news/2022-01-superior-nanoscale-imaging-optimized-diamond.html Nanophysics Thu, 13 Jan 2022 08:04:19 EST news561283455 On April 28, 2021, at 0933 UT (3:33 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time), NASA's Parker Solar Probe reached the sun's extended solar atmosphere, known as the corona, and spent five hours there. The spacecraft is the first to enter the outer boundaries of our sun. https://phys.org/news/2021-12-parker-solar-probe-spacecraft-sun.html Space Exploration Tue, 14 Dec 2021 13:05:18 EST news558709509 Until now, observing subatomic structures was beyond the resolution capabilities of direct imaging methods, and this seemed unlikely to change. Czech scientists, however, have presented a method with which they became the first in the world to observe an inhomogeneous electron charge distribution around a halogen atom, thus confirming the existence of a phenomenon that had been theoretically predicted but never directly observed. Comparable to the first observation of a black hole, the breakthrough will facilitate understanding of interactions between individual atoms or molecules as well as of chemical reactions, and it opens a path to refinement of the material and structural properties of various physical, biological, and chemical systems. The breakthrough will be published on Friday in Science. https://phys.org/news/2021-11-inhomogeneous-electron-atom.html General Physics Thu, 11 Nov 2021 14:00:10 EST news555854957 Conjugated polymers are organic macromolecules that are characterized by a backbone chain of alternating double and single bonds. Their overlapping p-orbitals create a cloud of delocalised π-electrons, which can result in useful optical and electronic properties. The design of π-conjugated polymers is highly desirable for technological applications such as tailor-made components for nanoelectronics. https://phys.org/news/2020-10-exploiting-molecular-vibrations-polymers.html Polymers Mon, 05 Oct 2020 07:33:31 EDT news521102009 A new nanomaterials microscopy approach called Pulsed Force Kelvin Probe Force Microscopy (PF-KPFM), allows for less than 10 nanometer measurements of work function and surface potential in a single-pass AFM scan. The findings have been published in two related articles in ACS Nano and Angewandte Chemie International Edition. https://phys.org/news/2020-06-microscopy-ambient-nm-spatial-resolution.html Nanophysics Wed, 24 Jun 2020 16:06:33 EDT news512233587 On Jan. 19, 2019, just 161 days after its launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, NASA's Parker Solar Probe completed its first orbit of the Sun, reaching the point in its orbit farthest from our star, called aphelion. The spacecraft has now begun the second of 24 planned orbits, on track for its second perihelion, or closest approach to the Sun, on April 4, 2019. https://phys.org/news/2019-01-parker-solar-probe-sun-orbit.html Space Exploration Wed, 30 Jan 2019 09:16:32 EST news468062186 The development of self-propelled micro- and nanomachines able to emulate the intricate inner workings of the human body and/or the natural environment has captured the imagination of an ever expanding research community since the turn of the millennium. It is envisioned that these devices will play an important role in nanomedicine and environmental remediation. https://phys.org/news/2018-11-micropumps-platform-chemically-propelled-micromotors.html Materials Science Thu, 08 Nov 2018 09:44:33 EST news460892664 The vibration of a molecule on a surface contains critical information on the molecule-surface interaction, crucial for understanding surface phenomena and for important processes like catalysis. It was previously investigated with a scanning probe microscopy, but the probe tip appeared to exert a force on the molecule, affecting the vibration. Here, by combining STM, AFM and model calculations, the experimental results were precisely reproduced; the molecule-surface interactions were weakened by the probe tip proximity. https://phys.org/news/2018-05-elucidation-vibration-energy-molecule-external.html Materials Science Thu, 10 May 2018 06:40:02 EDT news445153000 In a recent study published in the scientific journal Nature Nanotechnology, physicists and chemists of the University of Münster (Germany) describe an experimental approach to visualising structures of organic molecules with exceptional resolution. The key to this newly developed microscopic method is the high stability of a particularly sharp and atomically defined probe tip. https://phys.org/news/2018-04-interactions-molecules.html Nanophysics Thu, 12 Apr 2018 05:46:42 EDT news442730780 A team of researchers from ICMAB has proved that unconventional AFM probes are suitable for acquiring a true piezoelectric signal in piezoresponse force microscopy. The work, titled "Diminish electrostatic in piezoresponse force microscopy through longer or ultra-stiff tips," is published in Applied Surface Science. https://phys.org/news/2018-01-piezoelectric-microscopy-characterization-ceramic-materials.html Materials Science Fri, 26 Jan 2018 08:09:08 EST news436176536 Scientists at the University of St Andrews have developed an advanced new microscopy technique that could revolutionise our understanding of how immune and cancer cells find their way through the body.  https://phys.org/news/2017-06-optics-soap-mechanics-immune-cells.html Cell & Microbiology Tue, 20 Jun 2017 07:47:24 EDT news417163634 Researchers have developed a new way to use atomic force microscopy to rapidly measure the mechanical properties of cells at the nanometer scale, an advance that could pave the way for better understanding immune disorders and cancer. https://phys.org/news/2015-12-microscopy-technique-mechanical-properties-cells.html Nanophysics Thu, 17 Dec 2015 07:37:49 EST news369560259 Layered nanocomposites containing tiny structures mixed into a polymer matrix are gaining commercial use, but their complex nature can hide defects that affect performance. https://phys.org/news/2015-03-technique-quality-control-tool-nanocomposites.html Nanophysics Tue, 24 Mar 2015 08:00:02 EDT news346400720 There's a fascinating spot some 932,000 miles away from Earth where the gravity between the sun and Earth is perfectly balanced. This spot captures the attention of orbital engineers because a satellite can orbit this spot, called Lagrange 1 just as they can orbit a planet. But the spot tantalizes scientists as well: Lagrange 1 lies outside Earth's magnetic environment, a perfect place to measure the constant stream of particles from the sun, known as the solar wind, as they pass by. https://phys.org/news/2015-02-noaa-dscovr-view-solar.html Space Exploration Fri, 06 Feb 2015 13:50:11 EST news342452999 Memory based on electrically-induced "resistive switching" effects have generated a great deal of interest among engineers searching for faster and smaller devices because resistive switching would allow for a higher memory density. https://phys.org/news/2013-09-alloy-resistive-memory.html Nanophysics Fri, 20 Sep 2013 11:44:05 EDT news298896232 Spanish and German researchers have made a new instrumental development that solves a key materials science and nanotechnology question: how to chemically identify materials at the nanometre scale. https://phys.org/news/2012-08-european-materials-nanoscale.html Nanomaterials Thu, 02 Aug 2012 10:07:53 EDT news263120863 The chest-high rack of electronics Justin Kasper is assembling in a Massachusetts office park will fit in a shoe box before he's done. https://phys.org/news/2012-03-future-nasa-mission-sun-life.html Space Exploration Fri, 16 Mar 2012 18:57:26 EDT news251143024 The Dawn space probe entered into an orbit around the planetoid Vesta. The planetoid is 2.3 times further from the Sun than the Earth. Dawn used the force of gravity to get there. And an ion engine. https://phys.org/news/2011-08-gentle-nudges-vesta.html Space Exploration Tue, 02 Aug 2011 09:31:46 EDT news231496285