Electronic structure as a research area focuses on the quantum-mechanical description of electrons in atoms, molecules, solids, and nanostructures, and on how this governs their structural, spectroscopic, and transport properties. It encompasses the development and application of theoretical methods such as density functional theory, wavefunction-based quantum chemistry, many-body perturbation theory, and quantum Monte Carlo to compute energies, charge densities, band structures, and excited states. The field underpins predictive materials design, catalysis, electronic and photonic device engineering, and strongly correlated systems research by linking microscopic electron behavior to macroscopic observables and emergent phenomena.
If you make a material thinner and thinner, at a certain point it undergoes a seemingly miraculous transformation: A two-dimensional material that consists of only one or two layers of molecules sometimes has completely different ...
Condensed Matter
Jul 24, 2024
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102
Recently a super-strain nanoporous material, barium calcium zirconium titanate composition (Ba0.85Ca0.15)(Ti0.9Zr0.1)O3 (BCZT) was created, which showcases an extraordinary piezoelectric response (d33 ≈7500 pm V-1) . This ...
Nanophysics
Jun 26, 2024
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89
In a study published in Nature Communications, a team of scientists led by Rice University's Qimiao Si predicts the existence of flat electronic bands at the Fermi level, a finding that could enable new forms of quantum computing ...
Condensed Matter
Jun 25, 2024
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228
In a paper published today in Nature Communications, researchers unveiled previously unobserved phenomena in an ultra-clean sample of the correlated metal SrVO3. The study offers experimental insights that challenge the prevailing ...
Condensed Matter
Jun 24, 2024
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105
Tri-layer may be better than bi-layer for manufacturing, improving the speed and capacity of electrochemical and electrocatalytic devices.
Nanomaterials
Jun 21, 2024
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419
A new study published in Nature Physics introduces a theory of electron-phonon coupling that is affected by the quantum geometry of the electronic wavefunctions.
Materials scientists and engineers would like to know precisely how electrons interact and move in new materials and how the devices made with them will behave. Will the electrical current flow easily within the material? ...
Condensed Matter
May 28, 2024
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189
The scorching surface of Venus, where temperatures can climb to 480°C (hot enough to melt lead), is an inhospitable place for humans and machines alike. One reason scientists have not yet been able to send a rover to the ...
Condensed Matter
May 23, 2024
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103
The elements in the periodic table are divided into metals, semimetals and non-metals. The distinction is based on their chemical and physical properties and is determined, in particular, by the movement of electrons and ...
Condensed Matter
May 14, 2024
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145
Slow electrons are used in cancer therapy as well as in microelectronics. It is very hard to observe how they behave in solids. But scientists at TU Wien have made this possible.
Condensed Matter
May 13, 2024
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56
