Semiconductors are physical systems whose electrical conductivity lies between that of conductors and insulators and is strongly tunable by temperature, impurity concentration, and external fields. Their behavior is governed by band structure, featuring a finite band gap between valence and conduction bands that enables controlled carrier generation and recombination. Charge transport arises from electrons and holes, with densities modulated via doping, optical excitation, or electrostatic gating. Semiconductor systems support phenomena such as drift, diffusion, and quantum confinement, and they serve as the foundational medium for devices like diodes, transistors, and optoelectronic components through engineered heterostructures, junctions, and nanostructures.
An international research team has demonstrated that the intrinsic disorder of the compound semiconductor CuInSnS₄ can be exploited to influence its optical properties. While the atomic vibrations also sense the local disorder, ...
Condensed Matter
22 hours ago
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More accurate navigation systems and improved wireless communications may not come from traditional electronics, but rather from atoms. Researchers at Penn State and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) ...
Nanophysics
Jun 26, 2026
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Physicists at Paderborn University have, for the first time, experimentally demonstrated the so-called "return" of Rabi oscillations in semiconductor quantum dots. The phenomenon, which was first predicted theoretically in ...
Optics & Photonics
Jun 26, 2026
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McGill University researchers have developed a light-detecting nanoscale structure that mimics how a neuron processes information. The neuron-like behavior emerges from the materials themselves, reducing the energy demand ...
Bio & Medicine
Jun 25, 2026
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Materials scientists at Rice University have developed a new workflow methodology for measuring microscopic defects in diamond and other advanced semiconductor materials. By making it easier to spot flaws that can undermine ...
Nanophysics
Jun 25, 2026
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Although the efficiency of organic solar cells has now risen to more than 20%, there are physical limits that make it difficult to further increase their performance. A research team from Linköping University in Sweden, the ...
Condensed Matter
Jun 24, 2026
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Researchers at Tohoku University have uncovered the long-standing mystery behind the synthesis of Janus two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors, paving the way for more precise manufacturing of materials used in future electronics ...
Nanophysics
Jun 24, 2026
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7
Two cups of warm water don't make one cup of boiling water. But in the quantum world, multiple low-energy photons can combine to produce a single, higher-energy photon.
Optics & Photonics
Jun 23, 2026
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167
Whenever someone asks ChatGPT a question, heat is generated somewhere in the server room—a data center. When an electric vehicle battery generates heat during operation, the heat must be managed continuously. Manufacturing ...
Nanophysics
Jun 22, 2026
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35
Scientists can learn a lot about a quantum material by watching how it responds to light. In magnetic semiconductors, one especially useful messenger is the exciton: a pairing of a negatively charged electron and the positively ...
Condensed Matter
Jun 18, 2026
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