http://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. (PhysOrg.com) -- University of Michigan physicists used the electric fields generated by intersecting laser beams to trap and manipulate thousands of microscopic plastic spheres, thereby creating 3-D arrays of optically induced crystals. http://phys.org/news226136384.html Physics Wed, 01 Jun 2011 08:40:27 EST news226136384 (PhysOrg.com) -- A class of decorative, flower-like defects in the nanomaterial graphene could have potentially important effects on the material's already unique electrical and mechanical properties, according to researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and Georgia Tech. In a new paper, the team for the first time describes a family of seven defects that could occur naturally or be induced to occur in graphene, one of which already has been observed. http://phys.org/news225539421.html Nanotechnology Wed, 25 May 2011 10:50:41 EST news225539421 (PhysOrg.com) -- The ability to image single biological molecules in a living cell is something that has long eluded researchers; however, a novel technique, using the structure of diamond, may well be able to do this and potentially provide a tool for diagnosing, and eventually developing a treatment for, hard-to-cure diseases such as cancer. http://phys.org/news224994978.html Physics Thu, 19 May 2011 03:36:52 EST news224994978 On May 13 2011, the journal Science published a paper where scientists from Risoe DTU (Denmark), in collaboration with scientists from China and the USA, report a new method for revealing a 3-D picture of the structure inside a material. http://phys.org/news224759154.html Nanotechnology Mon, 16 May 2011 10:06:15 EST news224759154 (PhysOrg.com) -- When atoms combine to form compounds, they must follow certain bonding and valence rules. For this reason, many compounds simply cannot exist. But there are some compounds that, although they follow the bonding and valence rules, still are thought to not exist because they have unstable structures. Scientists call these compounds "impossible compounds." Nevertheless, some of these impossible compounds have actually been fabricated (for example, single sheets of graphene were once considered impossible compounds). In a new study, scientists have synthesized another one of these impossible compounds -- periodic mesoporous hydridosilica -- which can transform into a photoluminescent material at high temperatures. http://phys.org/news222933751.html Chemistry Mon, 25 Apr 2011 08:10:01 EST news222933751 (PhysOrg.com) -- The car of the future could be propelled by a fuel cell powered with hydrogen. But what will the fuel tank look like? Hydrogen gas is not only explosive but also very space-consuming. Storage in the form of very dense solid metal hydrides is a particularly safe alternative that accommodates the gas in a manageable volume. As the storage tank should also not be too heavy and expensive, solid-state chemists worldwide focus on hydrides containing light and abundant metals like magnesium. http://phys.org/news222413127.html Chemistry Tue, 19 Apr 2011 06:25:44 EST news222413127 (PhysOrg.com) -- Harvard physicists have expanded the possibilities for quantum engineering of novel materials such as high-temperature superconductors by coaxing ultracold atoms trapped in an optical lattice -- a light crystal -- to self-organize into a magnet, using only the minute disturbances resulting from quantum mechanics. The research, published in the journal Nature, is the first demonstration of such a “quantum magnet” in an optical lattice. http://phys.org/news221979566.html Physics Thu, 14 Apr 2011 05:59:47 EST news221979566 (PhysOrg.com) -- David D. Awschalom, of the Center for Spintronics and Quantum Computation, University of California, Santa Barbara, in a paper published recently in the Bulletin of the American Physical Society, describes a way to connect the laser-induced spinning of an electron in a free (defect) space in a diamond, with a nearby nitrogen atom in its natural state, thus, providing a means for creating a quantum data bit (qubit). http://phys.org/news220610377.html Physics Tue, 29 Mar 2011 09:40:08 EST news220610377 (PhysOrg.com) -- German physicists at the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics succeeded in manipulating atoms individually in a lattice of light and in arranging them in arbitrary patterns. These results are an important step towards large scale quantum computing and for the simulation of condensed matter systems. http://phys.org/news220114124.html Physics Wed, 23 Mar 2011 15:49:13 EST news220114124 Rare earths are an expensive and necessary component of strong permanent magnets. However, their use for this purpose can be optimised and thereby reduced. This has been demonstrated in computer simulations by a Special Research Program funded by the Austrian Science Fund FWF. The results, which will be presented in the US tomorrow, show that such magnets may contain local deformations in the crystal lattice of the material. These deformations are above all located at the boundary of material grains. According to the calculations of the St. Pölten University of Applied Sciences, the magnetic force of the material is weakened in these areas. This could be avoided by optimising the material structure, which would save resources by reducing the amount of rare earths required. http://phys.org/news218104698.html Physics Mon, 28 Feb 2011 08:38:32 EST news218104698 Supersolids and superfluids rank among the most exotic of quantum mechanical phenomena. Superfluids can flow without any viscosity, and experience no friction as they flow along the walls of a container, because their atoms 'condense' into a highly coherent state of matter. Supersolids are also characterized by coherent effects, but between vacancies in a crystal lattice rather than between the solid’s atoms themselves. http://phys.org/news217258207.html Physics Fri, 18 Feb 2011 13:30:29 EST news217258207 Coating a lattice of tiny wires called Nanonets with iron oxide – known more commonly as rust – creates an economical and efficient platform for the process of water splitting, an emerging clean fuel science that harvests hydrogen from water, Boston College researchers report in the online edition of the Journal of the American Chemical Society. http://phys.org/news216492539.html Nanotechnology Wed, 09 Feb 2011 16:49:25 EST news216492539 Scientists have created a diamond-like lattice composed of gold nanoparticles and viral particles, woven together and held in place by strands of DNA. The structure – a distinctive mix of hard, metallic nanoparticles and organic viral pieces known as capsids, linked by the very stuff of life, DNA – marks a remarkable step in scientists' ability to combine an assortment of materials to create infinitesimal devices. http://phys.org/news215357350.html Nanotechnology Thu, 27 Jan 2011 13:30:17 EST news215357350 A team headed by Dr. Takashi Kuroda, Senior Researcher, and Dr. Marco Abbarchi, Researcher, of the Quantum Dot Research Center, National Institute for Materials Science, in joint research with Hokkaido University, succeeded in controlling the few-particle quantum state of a semiconductor quantum dot, and changing its correlation energies. This research achievement will make it possible to develop semiconductor non-linear devices which enable stable drive with low power consumption. http://phys.org/news212406590.html Nanotechnology Fri, 24 Dec 2010 09:50:11 EST news212406590 If a ladder had more than one rung at each step, it would look awkward and would be a bit dangerous to climb. Ladders in the microscopic world were thought to be similar in structure, having only one particle, or rung, in each step in the lattice of a crystal. http://phys.org/news211798553.html Physics Fri, 17 Dec 2010 08:56:44 EST news211798553 (PhysOrg.com) -- An international team of researchers has succeeded in creating artificial spin ice in a state of thermal equilibrium for the first time, allowing them to examine the precise configuration of this important nanomaterial. http://phys.org/news210250077.html Nanotechnology Mon, 29 Nov 2010 10:48:19 EST news210250077 (PhysOrg.com) -- A systematic study of phase changes in vanadium dioxide has solved a mystery that has puzzled scientists for decades, according to researchers at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory. http://phys.org/news209748648.html Nanotechnology Tue, 23 Nov 2010 15:31:08 EST news209748648 (PhysOrg.com) -- Cornell researchers have developed a new method to create a patterned single-crystal thin film of semiconductor material that could lead to more efficient photovoltaic cells and batteries. http://phys.org/news205738843.html Nanotechnology Fri, 08 Oct 2010 06:41:03 EST news205738843 (PhysOrg.com) -- For a long time, scientists have been trying to transform the collective movements of tiny molecules into useful mechanical work. With this goal in mind, a team of researchers from Japan has developed a crystal cantilever that exhibits reversible bending upon alternate irradiation with ultraviolet (UV) and visible light. They've demonstrated that the crystal cantilever can lift metal balls that weigh up to 600 times more than the cantilever itself. In this process, the crystal's photogenerated molecular-scale shape change generates a very large amount of stress - more than 100 times larger than the stress produced by biological muscles - to induce the macroscale movement. http://phys.org/news205135137.html Chemistry Fri, 01 Oct 2010 08:30:01 EST news205135137 A Rice University-led team of physicists is reporting the first success in a three-year effort to build a precision simulator for superconductors using a grid of intersecting laser beams and ultracold atomic gas. http://phys.org/news204985533.html Physics Wed, 29 Sep 2010 13:26:03 EST news204985533 Shock-synthesized diamonds said to prove a catastrophic impact killed off North American megafauna can't be found. http://phys.org/news202382634.html Space & Earth Mon, 30 Aug 2010 15:00:11 EST news202382634 Since its discovery, graphene -- an unusual and versatile substance composed of a single-layer crystal lattice of carbon atoms—has caused much excitement in the scientific community. Now, Nongjian(NJ) Tao, a researcher at the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University has hit on a new way of making graphene, maximizing the material's enormous potential, particularly for use in high-speed electronic devices. http://phys.org/news197199010.html Nanotechnology Thu, 01 Jul 2010 10:30:28 EST news197199010 Graphene, a carbon sheet that is one-atom thick, may be at the center of the next revolution in material science. These ultrathin sheets hold great potential for a variety of applications from replacing silicon in solar cells to cooling computer chips. http://phys.org/news194922847.html Nanotechnology Sun, 06 Jun 2010 13:00:05 EST news194922847 (PhysOrg.com) -- A collaboration between the Advanced Photon Source and Center for Nanoscale Materials at Argonne National Laboratory has "seen" the crystallization of nanoparticles in unprecedented detail. http://phys.org/news193058818.html Nanotechnology Fri, 14 May 2010 12:29:09 EST news193058818 At extremely low temperatures atoms can aggregate into so-called Bose Einstein condensates forming coherent laser-like matter waves. Due to interactions between the atoms fundamental quantum dynamics emerge and give rise to periodic collapses and revivals of the matter wave field. http://phys.org/news193051053.html Physics Fri, 14 May 2010 10:17:47 EST news193051053 In an achievement that could help enable fast quantum computers, University of Michigan physicists have built a better Rydberg atom trap. Rydberg atoms are highly excited, nearly-ionized giants that can be thousands of times larger than their ground-state counterparts. http://phys.org/news192376064.html Physics Thu, 06 May 2010 14:48:26 EST news192376064 (PhysOrg.com) -- A research team at RIKEN, Japan’s flagship research organisation has experimentally determined the mechanism underlying the formation of electron pairs in iron-based high-temperature superconductors. The landmark finding, reported in the April 23rd issue of Science, establishes a key role for magnetism in superconductivity. http://phys.org/news191170099.html Physics Thu, 22 Apr 2010 15:48:48 EST news191170099 (PhysOrg.com) -- Diamond is best known for being a prized gem and the hardest cutting element available, but now thanks to research being carried out at Macquarie University it is also proving to be a super efficient laser material. http://phys.org/news191137627.html Physics Thu, 22 Apr 2010 06:47:37 EST news191137627 (PhysOrg.com) -- Can graphene -- a newly discovered form of pure carbon that may one day replace the silicon in computers, televisions, mobile phones and other common electronic devices -- be made to bend, twist and roll? http://phys.org/news191054841.html Nanotechnology Wed, 21 Apr 2010 08:00:02 EST news191054841 (PhysOrg.com) -- Ever since it's relatively recent discovery, graphene has generated a great deal of interest. Graphene is extracted from graphite in many cases, and consists of a sheet of carbon atoms bound together in a hexagonal lattice. Because graphene is only one atomic layer thick, it is of interest for nanostructures. Additionally, its electrical and optical properties make it a possible alternative to materials currently used in electronics and in sensors. There is even speculation about the usefulness of graphene for energy applications. Graphene sheets can be layered or patterned to get different properties and perform different functions. http://phys.org/news186755474.html Nanotechnology Tue, 02 Mar 2010 12:32:09 EST news186755474