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. Perovskites are a class of materials with a unique crystal structure that suits applications such as fabricating solar cells, light-emitting diodes and transistors. However, molecules in thin layers often cannot arrange themselves properly because the process proceeds too quickly. Now, an international research team led by Tomasz Marszalek from the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research has developed a new approach to controlling low-cost solution processing, thereby improving the formation of well-ordered perovskite layers and enabling their broader application in optoelectronic devices. Their paper is published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-crystallization-perovskite-layers-transistors.html Analytical Chemistry Mon, 18 May 2026 19:20:01 EDT news698340781 Mass spectrometry is already a powerful tool for determining what kind and how many molecules are present in a given sample. But most instruments still analyze their molecules one or just a few at a time, an approach that is inefficient and costly, and in which rare, but significant molecules can easily fall between the cracks. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-mass-spectrometers-molecules-reengineered-prototype.html Biochemistry Wed, 18 Mar 2026 14:00:14 EDT news693053817 Accurately measuring small shifts in biological markers, like proteins and neurotransmitters, or harmful chemicals in the water supply, can identify critical problems before they have a chance to impact patients or the environment. While some existing sensors can monitor the microscopic matter behind these issues, they often have limitations. A primary example is a device known as a field-effect transistor—a tiny component that controls the flow of electrical current in a system—that struggles to remain stable when exposed to liquid. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-graphene-sensors-stay-stable-liquids.html Nanomaterials Tue, 17 Mar 2026 17:10:01 EDT news692981281 A way to electrically modify the chirality of organic–inorganic hybrid materials, in which chiral molecules adsorb onto inorganic surfaces, has been demonstrated by researchers at Science Tokyo. By using an electric double-layer transistor with a chiral electrolyte, specific chirality was imposed on an otherwise achiral molybdenum disulfide surface. This reversible method enables tunable chiral electronic states and opens new possibilities for advanced spintronic devices and the emerging field of "chiral iontronics." https://phys.org/news/2025-12-chirality-electricity-voltage-driven-method.html Nanophysics Sun, 21 Dec 2025 11:00:01 EST news685367966 Light is fast, but travels in long wavelengths and interacts weakly with itself. The particles that make up matter are tiny and interact strongly with each other, but move slowly. Together, the two can combine into a hybrid quasiparticle called a polariton that is part light, part matter. https://phys.org/news/2025-10-playbook-polaritons-quasiparticles-power-optical.html Optics & Photonics Fri, 10 Oct 2025 11:00:12 EDT news679161482 Three scientists won the Nobel Prize in physics Tuesday for research on the strange behavior of subatomic particles called quantum tunneling that enabled the ultra-sensitive measurements achieved by MRI machines and laid the groundwork for better cellphones and faster computers. https://phys.org/news/2025-10-nobel-prize-physics-scientists-discoveries.html General Physics Tue, 07 Oct 2025 06:01:36 EDT news679035669 A research team in Kiel has demonstrated a previously unknown effect in graphene—a single layer of carbon atoms whose discovery earned the 2010 Nobel Prize. For years, graphene has been seen as a promising material for nanoelectronics, thanks to its exceptional conductivity, flexibility, and stability. Now, researchers from the Institute of Theoretical Physics and Astrophysics at Kiel University have taken this promise a step further. https://phys.org/news/2025-10-laser-pulses-graphene-electrons-lightning.html Nanophysics Wed, 01 Oct 2025 13:06:03 EDT news678542761 A research team has successfully developed the technology to fabricate high-sensitive biosensors by simply spraying, like an inkjet printer. The technology enables the fabrication of sensitive and precise sensors without expensive and complex equipment, and is expected to contribute to improving the fabrication scale and speed of biosensors in the future. https://phys.org/news/2025-09-inkjet-style-technique-high-sensitivity.html Bio & Medicine Mon, 08 Sep 2025 15:15:04 EDT news676563302 A pioneering partnership between researchers from The Grainger College of Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign has produced a novel nanopore sensing platform for single-biomolecule detection. Their findings, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, pave the way for solid-state, label-free DNA sequencing technologies with implications for precision medicine. https://phys.org/news/2025-06-nanopore-platform-paves-solid-state.html Bio & Medicine Thu, 12 Jun 2025 16:13:04 EDT news668963581 Researchers have demonstrated that by using a semiconductor with flexible bonds, the material can be molded into various structures using nano containers, without altering its composition. The discovery could lead to the design of a variety of customized electronic devices using only a single element. https://phys.org/news/2025-05-mind-band-gap-nanoscale-elementary.html Nanophysics Wed, 21 May 2025 11:00:15 EDT news667035962 Today, most of us carry a fairly powerful computer in our hand—a smartphone. But computers weren't always so portable. Since the 1980s, they have become smaller, lighter, and better equipped to store and process vast troves of data. Yet the silicon chips that power computers can only get so small. https://phys.org/news/2025-05-unique-molecule-smaller-efficient.html Nanophysics Thu, 01 May 2025 17:04:04 EDT news665337841 A team of engineers at Fudan University has successfully designed, built and run a 32-bit RISC-V microprocessor that uses molybdenum disulfide instead of silicon as its semiconductor component. Their paper is published in the journal Nature. https://phys.org/news/2025-04-bit-risc-processor-molybdenum-disulfide.html General Physics Thu, 03 Apr 2025 09:33:43 EDT news662891623 Using an approach called DNA origami, scientists at Caltech have developed a technique that could lead to cheaper, reusable biomarker sensors for quickly detecting proteins in bodily fluids, eliminating the need to send samples out to lab centers for testing. https://phys.org/news/2025-02-dna-origami-route-reusable-multifunctional.html Bio & Medicine Mon, 24 Feb 2025 17:34:04 EST news659640841 An unplugged electric instrument may function, but it sounds much better when it is connected to an amplifier. Similarly, toxins and other small molecules at low concentrations in the environment or human body may emit quiet signals that are undetectable without specialized lab technology. https://phys.org/news/2025-01-amplification-toxin-sensitive.html Biochemistry Mon, 13 Jan 2025 16:15:04 EST news656007301 Modern materials must be recyclable and sustainable. Consumer electronics is no exception, with organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) taking over modern televisions and portable device displays. However, the development of suitable materials—from the synthesis of molecules to the production of display components—is very time-consuming. https://phys.org/news/2024-12-layer-simulations-modern-displays.html Analytical Chemistry Wed, 18 Dec 2024 12:38:30 EST news653747905 A new diagnostic test system jointly developed at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering (PME) and UCLA Samueli School of Engineering fuses a powerful, sensitive transistor with a cheap, paper-based diagnostic test. When combined with machine learning, the system becomes a new kind of biosensor that could ultimately transform at-home testing and diagnostics. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-diagnostic-combines-technologies-machine-paradigm.html Bio & Medicine Tue, 10 Sep 2024 15:23:04 EDT news645200582 As electronic devices continue to get smaller and smaller, physical size limitations are beginning to disrupt the trend of doubling transistor density on silicon-based microchips approximately every two years, according to Moore's law. Molecular electronics—the use of single molecules as the building blocks for electronic components—offers a potential pathway for the continued miniaturization of small-scale electronic devices. Devices that utilize molecular electronics require precise control over the flow of electrical current. https://phys.org/news/2024-08-molecular-electronics-rigid-ladder-molecules.html Analytical Chemistry Mon, 26 Aug 2024 15:32:03 EDT news643905121 Quantum computers have to be kept cold to function—very cold. These machines generally run at "just a few degrees above absolute zero," says Yoseob Yoon, assistant professor of mechanical and industrial engineering at Northeastern University. "It's colder than outer space." https://phys.org/news/2024-07-atomically-thin-transducers-day-enable.html Nanophysics Mon, 15 Jul 2024 10:00:03 EDT news640256401 Chiral molecules—that is, those that have mirror images of themselves—have significant benefits for transistors and solar energy devices. Studying their properties in close detail, though, has been tricky due to the limited methods for doing so. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-techniques-reveal-properties-solid-state.html Condensed Matter Mon, 24 Jun 2024 08:11:23 EDT news638435480 Perovskites are among the most researched topics in materials science. Recently, a research team from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) has solved an age-old challenge to synthesize all-organic two-dimensional perovskites, extending the field into the exciting realm of 2D materials. https://phys.org/news/2024-05-2d-perovskites-potential-electronics.html Analytical Chemistry Mon, 06 May 2024 09:49:04 EDT news634207742 Molecular computer components could represent a new IT revolution and help us create cheaper, faster, smaller, and more powerful computers. Yet researchers struggle to find ways to assemble them more reliably and efficiently. https://phys.org/news/2024-04-combines-dna-origami-photolithography-closer.html Nanomaterials Wed, 24 Apr 2024 11:49:04 EDT news633178141 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 An international team of researchers from Queen Mary University of London, the University of Oxford, Lancaster University, and the University of Waterloo have developed a new single-molecule transistor that uses quantum interference to control the flow of electrons. The transistor, which is described in a paper published in the Nature Nanotechnology, opens new possibilities for using quantum effects in electronic devices. https://phys.org/news/2024-03-quantum-smaller-faster-energy-efficient.html Nanophysics Mon, 25 Mar 2024 13:45:03 EDT news630593101 It might look like a roll of chicken wire, but this tiny cylinder of carbon atoms—too small to see with the naked eye—could one day be used for making electronic devices ranging from night vision goggles and motion detectors to more efficient solar cells, thanks to techniques developed by researchers at Duke University. https://phys.org/news/2024-03-ways-carbon-based-semiconductors-electronics.html Nanomaterials Mon, 11 Mar 2024 17:03:04 EDT news629395382 Carbon nanotubes have shown promise for everything from microelectronics to aviation to energy storage. Researchers think this material might one day fulfill the science fiction dream of creating an elevator to space. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-nanotubes-metals.html Nanomaterials Thu, 29 Feb 2024 11:45:51 EST news628429547 Engineers at the University of California San Diego have developed an ultra-sensitive sensor made with graphene that can detect extraordinarily low concentrations of lead ions in water. The device achieves a record limit of detection of lead down to the femtomolar range, which is one million times more sensitive than previous sensing technologies. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-ultra-sensitive-detector-significantly-quality.html Nanomaterials Mon, 05 Feb 2024 10:11:29 EST news626350280 The past few decades have seen astonishing advances in imaging technology, from high-speed optical sensors that process over two million frames per second to tiny lensless cameras that record images using a single pixel. https://phys.org/news/2024-01-electronics-ways.html Nanophysics Wed, 24 Jan 2024 10:18:03 EST news625313882 Research appearing in ACS Nano reveals the ballistic movement of electrons in graphene in real-time. https://phys.org/news/2023-12-ultrafast-lasers-electrons-ballistic-graphene.html Nanophysics Fri, 15 Dec 2023 11:25:23 EST news621861918 Chains of fused carbon-containing rings have unique optoelectronic properties that make them useful as semiconductors. These chains, known as acenes, can also be tuned to emit different colors of light, which makes them good candidates for use in organic light-emitting diodes. https://phys.org/news/2023-12-chemists-molecules-rainbow-light-emitting-diodes.html Biochemistry Tue, 05 Dec 2023 08:43:04 EST news620988181 Researchers at the Center for Functional Nanomaterials (CFN), a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science User Facility at DOE's Brookhaven National Laboratory, and Northrop Grumman, a multinational aerospace and defense technology company, have found a way to maintain valley polarization at room temperature using novel materials and techniques. https://phys.org/news/2023-09-valley-polarization-room-temperature.html Nanophysics Fri, 08 Sep 2023 09:23:17 EDT news613383789