https://phys.org/nanotech-news/nano-physics/ en-us The latest science news on nanophysics, nanotechnology, nanotech and nanoscience. In a discovery that could offer a new way to control quantum properties in two-dimensional materials, researchers at Cornell have found that electrically sliding the layers of ultrathin graphene can switch the material between distinct magnetic states that persist even after the voltage is removed. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-electrical-graphene-magnetic-states.html Nanophysics Sat, 17 Oct 2026 08:00:06 EDT news711213693 A transistor normally requires several fundamentally different materials—a semiconductor to carry current, an insulating dielectric to control it and metallic contacts through which current enters and leaves. Integrating all of these components becomes increasingly difficult as semiconductor devices approach the atomic scale. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-2d-crystal-transistor-built-insulation.html Nanophysics Thu, 15 Oct 2026 16:40:06 EDT news711293041 Using an advanced new mathematical model, a pair of physicists in Belgium has revealed the origins of an unusual, direction-dependent effect found in water confined to a narrow gap between two plates. Through research published in Physical Review Letters, Mehdi Neek-Amal and Francois Peeters at the University of Antwerp showed how two drastically different dielectric responses in this water emerge from the natural bonding behavior of its molecules. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-tightly-confined-response-electric-fields.html Nanophysics Thu, 15 Oct 2026 08:40:08 EDT news711034426 Gravity, the attraction between objects with mass, is the weakest of the four fundamental forces governing physical processes. Detecting the tiny gravitational pull of objects that are just a few millimeters in size and have a very small mass is extremely challenging. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-sensor-gravitational-tiny.html Nanophysics Mon, 12 Oct 2026 08:00:14 EDT news710677528 What happens at the nanoscale when information is written to memory? Researchers at KAIST have shown how tiny regions with a new polarization direction form while previously formed regions continue to expand in a promising ferroelectric material. By linking these nanoscale changes to electrical measurements, the team developed a model that captures both processes, offering a basis for designing faster and more stable memory. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-written-ferroelectric-memory-nanoscale.html Nanophysics Thu, 08 Oct 2026 16:40:10 EDT news710679781 A research team led by Professor Jiwoong Yang of the Department of Energy Science and Engineering at DGIST has developed the world's first foundational technology for an ultrahigh-resolution stretchable quantum dot display (QLED) that can stretch freely like skin while maintaining sharp image quality. The findings were published in Nature Nanotechnology. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-display-technology-combines-brightness-pixels.html Nanophysics Wed, 07 Oct 2026 16:30:02 EDT news710605801 A study from the Research Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics (MANA), one of the centers under the National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS), presents a new method to reveal hidden material disorder reflected in complex photoluminescence spectra, paving the way for new optical diagnostics of material disorder in two-dimensional semiconductors and related light-emitting materials. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-peaks-optical-analysis-decodes-spectral.html Nanophysics Tue, 06 Oct 2026 15:40:10 EDT news710505781 A joint research team led by professors Seunghyun Baik and Joonmyung Choi from the School of Mechanical Engineering at Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU) has developed a new nanocomposite material whose electrical and thermal conductivities increase as it is stretched. The team successfully applied it to stable heat dissipation for foldable phones. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-boosts-thermal-electrical-nanocomposite.html Nanophysics Tue, 06 Oct 2026 14:40:02 EDT news710503982 Scientists have developed a new way to make ceramic materials that can better withstand extreme heat and continue performing reliably in sensors and actuators. The approach creates tiny structures throughout the material that give it new electrical and mechanical properties. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-nanoscale-electromechanical-properties-ceramics.html Nanophysics Mon, 05 Oct 2026 10:20:07 EDT news710412482 The circular photogalvanic effect (CPGE), a phenomenon that generates helicity-dependent photocurrents in noncentrosymmetric materials, can originate purely from a crystal's internal structure without a contribution from the surface, a study from Science Tokyo reveals. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-mirror-image-crystals-reverse-driven.html Nanophysics Fri, 02 Oct 2026 14:40:12 EDT news710157781 In a new Physical Review Letters study, researchers have demonstrated that bending diamond nanostructures can tune the light they emit without doping. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-nanoribbons-tunes-diamond-emission-doping.html Nanophysics Wed, 30 Sep 2026 15:20:06 EDT news709983577 A new technique for controlling optical components with light could help usher in a generation of high-efficiency signal-processing technology that could drive futuristic applications such as holographic video. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-dyed-liquid-crystals-enable-optical.html Nanophysics Tue, 29 Sep 2026 17:20:16 EDT news709915321 Lithium, magnesium, potassium and many other ions usually occur together in natural and industrial solutions. Separating them from one another is a challenge, for example, in the extraction and processing of raw materials. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-electricity-ion-membranes.html Nanophysics Mon, 28 Sep 2026 12:20:22 EDT news709812541 The COVID-19 pandemic clearly demonstrated the importance of rapid and reliable diagnostic methods for detecting and monitoring infectious diseases. Nucleic acids, including RNA, are key biomarkers used in the detection, monitoring and treatment of a wide range of diseases. However, isolating nucleic acids from biological samples can be challenging, particularly when they are present at very low concentrations. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-modification-magnetic-nanoparticles-rna-isolation.html Bio & Medicine Fri, 25 Sep 2026 10:40:04 EDT news709547341 For the first time, researchers have directly imaged the magnetization dynamics inside a spin Hall nano-oscillator—a nanoscale device that converts direct current into tunable microwave signals and is a promising building block for energy-efficient wireless communication and brain-inspired computing. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-nano-oscillator-imaged.html Nanophysics Wed, 23 Sep 2026 12:20:10 EDT news709380362 Engineers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison have designed a new type of quantum nanostructure that could enable optical neural networks. This emerging technology has the potential to make artificial intelligence systems, like large language models and image generation, faster and significantly more energy efficient. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-tiny-quantum-nanostructures-ai-energy.html Nanophysics Tue, 22 Sep 2026 15:40:06 EDT news709307761 In their earliest years of development, computers used mechanical gears and levers to store information. Today, researchers are exploring whether a material itself can hold onto information, storing memory in how it bends and springs back to its original shape. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-carbon-nanotube-foams-reveal-kind.html Nanophysics Tue, 22 Sep 2026 09:10:01 EDT news709286482 A drop of coffee on a tabletop often leaves a dark ring behind. This everyday mark is a reminder that a drying droplet is not passive: As water evaporates, it can transport the particles suspended inside it toward the edge. Scientists call this the coffee-ring effect. For inkjet printing and surface coatings, however, a ring is often exactly what engineers do not want. They need the material to land in a controlled, predictable pattern. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-spider-webs-mosaics-nanosheets-graphene.html Nanophysics Mon, 21 Sep 2026 18:00:05 EDT news709199310 Researchers have engineered a new material that is an extreme thermal insulator, is exceptionally stiff and can be printed as a thin film at large scales. The material has one of the lowest thermal conductivity profiles of any dense, or nonporous, material—approaching the theoretical limit of how good a material can be as a thermal insulator. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-thermal-insulator-outperforms-material-nature.html Nanophysics Fri, 18 Sep 2026 14:00:06 EDT news708832946 Nanodiamonds are tiny diamond particles that usually measure mere millionths of a millimeter. They are extremely hard, stable and heat-resistant and highly adaptable for various purposes in medicine, new materials, catalysis and energy technology. By compressing plastic with lasers, researchers at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) and the University of Rostock are now able to systematically produce high-purity, ultra-small diamonds with a narrow size distribution. This is impossible to achieve with conventional methods such as explosions. As a scalable technology, laser compression offers great potential for improved, clean and sustainable production of ultra-small nanodiamonds. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-laser-plastic-ultra-small-high.html Nanophysics Thu, 17 Sep 2026 17:40:06 EDT news708870182 Beauty and mystery—it is hard to imagine a more alluring combination, and this is precisely what we encounter when we observe phenomena in the nanoworld. But are we really sure that observations made using modern microscopic techniques do not influence what is happening there? A comparison of images of copper oxide nanoparticles reacting with chloroauric acid, obtained using electron and photon beams, has yielded unexpected results. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-electron-photon-gold-reaction-nanoscale.html Nanophysics Thu, 17 Sep 2026 17:30:01 EDT news708882841 New research led by the ARC Center of Excellence for Transformative Meta-Optical Systems (TMOS) at the University of Melbourne demonstrates a new way to make invisible infrared light visible without relying on the expensive detector technology used in today's infrared cameras. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-compact-optical-screen-pave-cheaper.html Nanophysics Wed, 16 Sep 2026 18:10:04 EDT news708790681 Physicists at Leipzig University and Charles University in Prague have developed a method for changing the swimming style of tiny artificial microswimmers in real time. They can make a single microscopic particle switch at will between modes of swimming inspired by bacteria and algae. The researchers have thus turned a property that was previously fixed during production into a programmable parameter. They believe their findings pave the way for an evolutionary approach to the development of synthetic active matter. Their study has now been published in Nature Communications. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-microswimmers-bacteria-algae-propulsion.html Nanophysics Wed, 16 Sep 2026 16:20:02 EDT news708781981 Artificial intelligence is transforming how information is generated, processed and stored, but its rapid expansion is also driving unprecedented demand for computing power and electricity. Developing hardware that can process information more efficiently is therefore becoming one of the major technological challenges of the AI era. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-room-temperature-skyrmion-based-synapses.html Nanophysics Mon, 14 Sep 2026 19:20:01 EDT news708620821 Monash University-led researchers have directly imaged tiny swirling structures inside an atomically thin semiconductor, opening new possibilities for future low-energy electronic technologies. Published in Science Advances, the study reveals structures known as merons and antimerons, nanoscale "whirlpools" of electrical polarization, in twisted layers of the semiconductor tungsten diselenide (WSe₂). https://phys.org/news/2026-09-tiny-whirlpools-atom-thin-semiconductor.html Nanophysics Mon, 14 Sep 2026 09:20:04 EDT news708593821 Metallic nanostructures are exceptionally effective at concentrating light into tiny volumes, while dielectric nanostructures excel at storing light with minimal energy loss. Combining these complementary properties has traditionally required complicated hybrid structures in which the two optical modes become mixed, making them difficult to control independently. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-nanostructure-enables-independent-resonance-modes.html Nanophysics Fri, 11 Sep 2026 18:20:01 EDT news708353822 Light in the mid-infrared (mid-IR) portion of the electromagnetic spectrum plays a key role in modern sensing. Because molecules interact with this kind of light in specific ways, researchers use technologies like mid-IR spectroscopy to identify biological materials, drugs and pollutants. Mid-IR light can also serve as a carrier of information in free-space optical communications, where data are transmitted through the air without using cables or fibers. Better control of mid-IR light could therefore lead to more sensitive detectors and faster communications. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-ultrathin-silicon-tune-mid-ir.html Nanophysics Thu, 10 Sep 2026 14:40:07 EDT news708256891 A research team at the University of Vienna led by physicist Jani Kotakoski demonstrates how the shape of nanopores in hexagonal boron nitride—the electrically insulating counterpart to graphene, also known as "white graphene"—can be precisely controlled at the atomic level. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-white-graphene-reshaped-atomic-scale.html Nanophysics Thu, 10 Sep 2026 12:00:08 EDT news708252122 Researchers at the National Graphene Institute have shown that naturally occurring channels within a common clay mineral can respond to pressure, voltage and pH, offering possibilities for controlling the movement of ions through extremely small, confined spaces. The study, published in Advanced Materials, focuses on vermiculite, a naturally abundant layered clay whose structure contains channels only a few angstroms high, providing naturally confined pathways through which ions can move. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-natural-clay-reveals-ion-angstrom.html Nanophysics Wed, 09 Sep 2026 18:20:01 EDT news708184022 Researchers at The University of Manchester and the Australian National University have developed a new class of molecular magnets that combines the most successful features of previous designs, resulting in some of the strongest magnetic memory properties reported to date. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-molecular-magnet-boosts-ultrahigh-density.html Nanophysics Tue, 08 Sep 2026 14:40:09 EDT news708088321