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. EPFL researchers have developed a method to calibrate electron spectrometers with extreme accuracy by linking microwave, optical, and free-electron frequencies. https://phys.org/news/2025-10-bridging-microwaves-electrons-precision-calibration.html Optics & Photonics Wed, 29 Oct 2025 12:13:04 EDT news680958782 The Field Museum in Chicago and the Foundation for Scientific Advancement reported that sediment-encased maturation of pine resin produces a hardened, translucent substance that closely mimics natural copal and amber in appearance, texture, and chemical signature. https://phys.org/news/2025-03-scientists-lab-grown-amber-resin.html Biotechnology Wed, 26 Mar 2025 10:20:01 EDT news662202619 A study of oxygen molecules interacting with atomically thin layers of materials being developed as new generations of semiconductors could significantly improve control over the fabrication and applications of these two-dimensional (2D) materials. https://phys.org/news/2024-04-defect-2d-semiconductor-crystals-oxygen.html Nanomaterials Thu, 11 Apr 2024 13:21:54 EDT news632060511 A research group led by Assoc. Prof. Shota Kuwahara of Toho University and Assoc. Prof. Masato Kuwahara of Nagoya University has developed a new technology that enables the creation of three-dimensional structures of gold nanoparticles confined within silica nanocapsules. https://phys.org/news/2023-12-technology-three-dimensional-gold-nanoparticles-confined.html Nanomaterials Tue, 12 Dec 2023 12:14:44 EST news621605682 Researchers led by Prof. Zhou Wu from the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS) and Prof. Sokrates T. Pantelides of Vanderbilt University have pushed the sensitivity of single-atom vibrational spectroscopy to the chemical-bonding-configuration extreme, which is critical for understanding the correlation of lattice vibrational properties with local atomic configurations in materials. https://phys.org/news/2023-03-single-atom-vibrational-spectroscopy-sensitive-chemical.html Analytical Chemistry Tue, 21 Mar 2023 10:10:06 EDT news598612201 On average, we open seven packaged items per day, most of them food items. All of this together makes for a mountain of plastic. But more and more often our tomatoes, apples and cookies are packaged in cardboard. To help speed up the transition of plastic to paper, TU/e chemist Sterre Bakker researched what coatings can be used to make cardboard a more suitable food packaging material. https://phys.org/news/2023-01-cardboard-sustainable-coating.html Polymers Thu, 26 Jan 2023 09:53:03 EST news593949181 When sunlight reflects on an oily puddle of water in a parking lot, it creates a rainbow of swirling colors. That's because of the thin film interference principle, which explains how light reflects off of different layers, or films, in a mixture of liquids. https://phys.org/news/2022-12-oil-slick-rainbows-thin-layer-physics.html Condensed Matter Thu, 01 Dec 2022 12:28:58 EST news589120120 Researchers have developed a label-free and non-invasive Raman spectroscopy approach that can acquire microscopic images of biological samples and identify a wide range of biomolecules with unprecedented speed and sensitivity. https://phys.org/news/2022-08-boost-sensitivity-raman-microscopy-technique.html Optics & Photonics Wed, 17 Aug 2022 15:06:03 EDT news579967561 In order to better understand (and possibly control) fast chemical reactions, it is necessary to study the behavior of electrons as precisely as possible—in both space and time. However, up to now, microscopy methods have delivered only either spatially or temporally sharp images. By cleverly combining established techniques of tunneling microscopy and laser spectroscopy, a team led by Klaus Kern, Director at the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research in Stuttgart, has now overcome these obstacles. Using their atomic quantum microscope, they can make the movement of electrons in individual molecules visible. https://phys.org/news/2022-01-subfemtosecond-imaging-quantum-electronic-coherences.html Optics & Photonics Mon, 31 Jan 2022 09:54:48 EST news562845285 Mussels survive by sticking to rocks in the fierce waves or tides underwater. Materials mimicking this underwater adhesion are widely used for skin or bone adhesion, for modifying the surface of a scaffold, or even in drug or cell delivery systems. However, these materials have not entirely imitated the capabilities of mussels. https://phys.org/news/2021-06-secret-stickiness-mussels-underwater.html Materials Science Tue, 01 Jun 2021 10:30:44 EDT news541762242 Often admired for their flawless appearance to the naked eye, crystals can have defects at the nanometer scale, and these imperfections may affect the thermal and heat transport properties of crystalline materials used in a variety of high-technology devices. https://phys.org/news/2021-01-scientists-local-vibrational-modes-individual.html Condensed Matter Tue, 12 Jan 2021 07:29:12 EST news529658949 Influenza, SARS-CoV-2 and other viruses come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes, and by studying these shapes, scientists can learn how they function and how viral illnesses might be conquered. https://phys.org/news/2020-09-method-scientists-quickly-view-individual.html Analytical Chemistry Mon, 14 Sep 2020 09:44:26 EDT news519295463 Powerful atomic-resolution instruments and techniques at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) are revealing new information about the interaction of uranium dioxide (UO2) with water. These new insights will improve the understanding of how spent nuclear fuel will degrade in deep geologic repository environments. https://phys.org/news/2020-09-exploring-oxidative-pathways-nuclear-fuel.html Materials Science Wed, 02 Sep 2020 09:37:38 EDT news518258253 Rice University scientists have developed an easy and affordable tool to count and characterize nanoparticles. https://phys.org/news/2020-06-tool-nanorods.html Nanomaterials Mon, 08 Jun 2020 16:26:16 EDT news510852373 In order to understand advanced materials like graphene nanostructures and optimize them for devices in nano-, opto- and quantum-technology it is crucial to understand how phonons—the vibration of atoms in solids—influence the materials' properties. Researchers from the University of Vienna, the Advanced Institute of Science and Technology in Japan, the company JEOL and La Sapienza University in Rome have developed a method capable to measure all phonons existing in a nanostructured material. This is a breakthrough in the analysis of nanoscale functional materials and devices. With this pilot experiment using graphene nanostructures these researchers have shown the uniqueness of their approach, which will be published in the latest issue of Nature. https://phys.org/news/2019-08-atoms-vibrate-graphene-nanostructures.html Nanophysics Mon, 12 Aug 2019 12:06:51 EDT news484830398 University of Michigan physicists have led the development of a device the size of a match head that can bend light inside a crystal to generate synchrotron radiation in a lab. https://phys.org/news/2018-10-small-device.html Optics & Photonics Thu, 25 Oct 2018 07:31:10 EDT news459671465 University of Michigan researchers have developed a powerful microscope that can map how light energy migrates in photosynthetic bacteria on timescales of one-quadrillionth of a second. https://phys.org/news/2018-10-microscope-track-energy-photosynthetic-cells.html Biochemistry Fri, 12 Oct 2018 07:26:11 EDT news458547963 A close-up view of an individual tree won't tell you much about what's going on in the forest, or even what's going on in the tree's upper branches. The same goes for studying nanoparticles. What is happening in one small area might not be indicative of what's going on with the nanoparticle as a whole. In fact, the light you shine on the area may actually affect the reaction processes, giving a skewed reading. https://phys.org/news/2015-03-technique-nanoscale-tree-microscale-forest.html Nanophysics Thu, 05 Mar 2015 08:22:25 EST news344766137 (Phys.org) —A team of researchers in the U.S. has added the ability to detect atomic lattice vibrations to a scanning tunneling electron microscope. In their paper describing their efforts, published in the journal Nature, the team describes how they applied new advances in vibrational spectroscopy to the electron microscope to allow for better study of such things as nanostructures involved in dynamic processes. Rik Brydson, of the University of Leeds in the U.K. offers a New & Views piece on the work done by the team in the same journal issue. https://phys.org/news/2014-10-scanning-transmission-electron-microscope-vibrational.html General Physics Thu, 09 Oct 2014 08:50:01 EDT news332058988 Carbon nanotubes are expected to be used in a myriad of applications ranging from military protective clothing to hydrogen storage. Due to their nanometer dimensions, however, the structure and surface chemistry of individual carbon nanotubes cannot be easily studied using conventional techniques. Norihiko Hayazawa and colleagues from the Near Field NanoPhotonics Research Team at the RIKEN Center for Advanced Photonics have now developed a high-resolution microscopy technique that can resolve individual carbon nanotubes under ambient conditions. https://phys.org/news/2014-04-high-resolution-microscopy-technique-individual-carbon.html Nanophysics Fri, 11 Apr 2014 08:48:48 EDT news316424895 (Phys.org) —Recent progress in the engineering of plasmonic structures has enabled new kinds of nanometer-scale optoelectronic devices as well as high-resolution optical sensing. But until now, there has been a lack of tools for measuring nanometer-scale behavior in plasmonic structures which are needed to understand device performance and to confirm theoretical models. https://phys.org/news/2013-04-scientists-near-field-behavior-semiconductor-plasmonic.html Nanophysics Mon, 22 Apr 2013 12:32:39 EDT news285852747 (Phys.org) —For more than 20 years, researchers have been using atomic force microscopy (AFM) to measure and characterize materials at the nanometer scale. However AFM-based measurements of chemistry and chemical properties of materials were generally not possible, until now. https://phys.org/news/2013-03-team-afm-ir-nanometer-scale-chemical.html Nanophysics Fri, 08 Mar 2013 17:58:37 EST news281987889 National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) researchers have developed a three-dimensional stress analysis simulator for ultra-small silicon (Si) devices. The developed simulation technology allows the analysis of the distribution of the mechanical stress (or mechanical strain) applied to ultra-small Si devices with a spatial resolution at the nanometer level by calculating the modulation of light intensity distribution caused by the device structure in the micro-Raman spectroscopy measurement using an optical microscope. https://phys.org/news/2012-11-d-stress-analysis-simulator-ultra-small.html Nanophysics Mon, 12 Nov 2012 09:06:46 EST news271933142 Silicon is the workhorse of the electronics industry, serving as the base material for the tiny transistors that make it possible for digital clocks to tick and computers to calculate. Now scientists have succeeded in creating near-atomically flat silicon, of the orientation used by the electronics industry, in a room temperature reaction. The flat silicon might one day serve as the base for new biological and chemical sensors. The researchers will present their work at the AVS 59th International Symposium and Exhibition, held Oct. 28 – Nov. 2 in Tampa, Fla. https://phys.org/news/2012-10-near-atomically-flat-silicon-pave-chemical.html Nanomaterials Fri, 26 Oct 2012 17:00:05 EDT news270486463 One of the key achievements of the nanotechnology era is the development of manufacturing technologies that can fabricate nanostructures formed from multiple materials. Such nanometer-scale integration of composite materials has enabled innovations in electronic devices, solar cells, and medical diagnostics. https://phys.org/news/2012-10-nanometer-scale-infrared-spectroscopy.html Nanophysics Wed, 10 Oct 2012 15:43:10 EDT news269102583 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 (PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers from the CNST and Arizona State University have demonstrated that the overall catalytic activity of nickel particles for the formation of carbon nanostructures is improved by the addition of a small amount of gold (below 0.2 mol fraction). https://phys.org/news/2011-10-gold-doping-nickel-catalyst-carbon.html Nanomaterials Thu, 13 Oct 2011 04:39:07 EDT news237699500 (PhysOrg.com) -- In 2008, a team of investigators at Stanford University's Center for Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence demonstrated that they could use a technique known as nanoparticle-aided Raman spectroscopy to look at microscopic structures, including nascent tumors, deep inside the body. That team has now conducted extensive preclinical tests and shown that the gold nanoparticles can be safely administered into the colon and used with a Raman endoscope to image the inside of the large intestines. https://phys.org/news/2011-06-raman-nanoparticle-aided-imaging-tumors-closer.html Bio & Medicine Tue, 28 Jun 2011 06:48:23 EDT news228462483 (PhysOrg.com) -- What do Winslow Homer's For to Be a Farmer's Boy (1887) and Vincent van Gogh's The Bedroom (1889) have in common? https://phys.org/news/2011-04-capturing-fugitive-art.html Analytical Chemistry Tue, 05 Apr 2011 13:39:52 EDT news221229500 (PhysOrg.com) -- Using cutting-edge microscopy techniques, researchers have gained insight into how human mummies can be extremely well-preserved for thousands of years. A team of scientists from Germany and Italy has investigated skin samples from Europe's oldest natural mummy, the 5,300-year-old "Iceman" who was buried in a glacier shortly after death in the Otzal Alps between Italy and Austria. The researchers found that the underlying structure of the mummy's skin is largely unaltered compared with the skin of a modern living human, likely maintaining its protective function due to dehydration. https://phys.org/news/2010-04-nanostructure-year-old-mummy-skin-reveals.html Bio & Medicine Tue, 20 Apr 2010 09:10:02 EDT news190967981