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. A research team led by SKKU professor Hosung Seo of the Department of Quantum Information Engineering and the SKKU Advanced Institute of Nanotechnology, working with the University of Wisconsin–Madison and the University of Washington, has identified—for the first time—an atomic defect structure in the zinc oxide (ZnO) semiconductor with outstanding properties for use as a "spin qubit," a core building block of future quantum computers, quantum communications and quantum sensors. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-world-zinc-oxide-qubit-advance.html Quantum Physics Fri, 24 Jul 2026 09:20:04 EDT news704102581 Our bodies generate extremely weak magnetic fields as electric currents flow through the heart, brain and other tissues. These signals are used in magnetocardiography and magnetoencephalography to assess heart function and brain activity, respectively. These fields can be detected at room temperature using diamond sensors containing nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers, in which a carbon atom is replaced by a nitrogen atom adjacent to an empty lattice site. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-body-magnetic-fields-power-ramsey.html Optics & Photonics Wed, 22 Jul 2026 16:40:06 EDT news703947302 Artificial intelligence faces an energy crisis stemming from a physical traffic jam inside modern computer chips. Processors must continually shuffle data, such as the billions of parameters in complex models, between separate computing and memory nodes. This traffic jam, known as the "von Neumann bottleneck," hinders the speed and energy efficiency of advanced processors. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-quantum-microscope-illuminates-transistor.html Condensed Matter Tue, 21 Jul 2026 16:20:11 EDT news703858561 Carbon quantum dots (CQDs) are tiny carbon-based nanomaterials that have attracted increasing attention as environmentally friendly alternatives to conventional heavy-metal quantum dots. They are lightweight, photostable and potentially biocompatible, and their light absorption and emission properties can be tuned. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-atomic-defects-carbon-quantum-dots.html Nanophysics Fri, 26 Jun 2026 15:00:01 EDT news701696975 Diamonds have long been coveted for their beauty. Their dazzling color and clarity make them perfect candidates for luxury jewelry. However, it's their other unique characteristics, including their hardness, thermal conductivity and chemical resistance, that make diamonds suitable for various applications in industry and advanced technologies. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-diamond-high-quantum-materials.html General Physics Wed, 24 Jun 2026 11:00:01 EDT news701516613 Researchers at Kanazawa University, in collaboration with Diamond and Carbon Applications (Germany), have developed a buried-growth process for nitrogen–vacancy (NV) centers in diamond using microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition (MPCVD). By employing nitrogen-radical selective etching, which simultaneously enhances metal-mask durability through nitridation, the team enabled a continuous etching–growth sequence within a single MPCVD process. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-growth-enables-2d-arrays-position.html Plasma Physics Tue, 09 Jun 2026 14:40:09 EDT news700228921 Quantum computing, once only a theoretical possibility, promises to deliver faster, more energy-efficient computers—but only if scientists can build and scale the hardware needed to run the machines. New research from Virginia Commonwealth University brings scientists one small step closer to quantum computing at a practical scale, which could help dramatically reduce energy usage and computing times in some industries. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-nanomagnets-diamond-qubits-scalable-quantum.html Condensed Matter Wed, 03 Jun 2026 16:20:04 EDT news699717662 Quantum computers get a lot of attention, even though they are not ready for prime time, but quantum sensors are already doing useful work. These sensors measure fields, forces and motion so small that ordinary background noise can drown them out. Some sensors are already in daily use, while others are moving from research labs into flight tests, hospitals and field instruments. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-quantum-sensors-atoms-electrons-ultrasteady.html Quantum Physics Wed, 20 May 2026 20:40:02 EDT news698499954 From navigation to solar weather forecasting, many different areas of research require space-based sensors to measure Earth's magnetic field as accurately as possible at any given moment. So far, however, existing sensors have consistently struggled with effects including drift, interference from the spacecraft itself, and the harsh conditions of orbit. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-resilient-quantum-sensor-earth-magnetic.html Space Exploration Mon, 11 May 2026 14:00:05 EDT news697711981 A special class of sensors leverages quantum properties to measure tiny signals at levels that would be impossible using classical sensors alone. Such quantum sensors are currently being used to study the inner workings of cells and the outer depths of our universe. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-multitasking-quantum-sensors-properties.html Quantum Physics Wed, 15 Apr 2026 08:40:01 EDT news695461141 Most people think of diamonds as high-end adornments. Not Ania Bleszynski Jayich. The UC Santa Barbara physicist sees diamonds, which she grows in the UC Quantum Foundry, as a potentially powerful foundation for quantum sensors. Sensors are currently much farther along in their development than other potential quantum applications. Diamond sensors are particularly promising because diamonds require relatively few quantum bits (qubits) to operate, whereas a quantum computer, for instance, requires more than 100,000, perhaps as many as a million, qubits to handle error correction, one of the main hurdles for quantum computing. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-mechanical-boost-diamond-quantum-sensor.html Optics & Photonics Mon, 06 Apr 2026 16:30:01 EDT news694710121 Silicon is ubiquitous in modern electronics, and now it is becoming increasingly useful in quantum computing. In particular, silicon's compatibility with existing chip technology and its long coherence times in silicon-based spin qubits make it a promising material for scalable quantum computing. A new study, published in Nature Nanotechnology, has demonstrated silicon's use in a logical quantum processor, representing the first of its kind. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-silicon-quantum-logical.html Quantum Physics Mon, 30 Mar 2026 12:20:01 EDT news694085235 In a major advance applying insights from quantum physics to the inner workings of biology, a team of WashU researchers has successfully implanted quantum sensors in living cells to measure shifts in magnetism and temperature. The measurements could offer new insights into the efficiency of cellular metabolism in health and disease. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-quantum-biosensors-peer-cells.html Biotechnology Thu, 26 Mar 2026 18:40:02 EDT news693745406 Cells are squishy and soft. Tiny nanometer-sized particles such as quantum sensors cannot move freely inside them due to viscous drag, which makes sensing challenging. Researchers at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) have now developed a technique to precisely maneuver quantum sensors through these highly viscous biological environments, such as the interior of living cells, using magnetic microbots. This opens up possibilities for real-time, minimally invasive measurement of parameters like local viscosity and temperature inside cells. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-magnetic-microbots-quantum-sensors-cells.html Bio & Medicine Tue, 24 Mar 2026 12:00:02 EDT news693569359 For more than a century, condensed matter physics has grappled with one of its greatest unsolved challenges: how to build superconductors that operate at room temperature and transmit electricity with no loss. Now, in a paper published in Nature, a team of Harvard physicists has reported new insights into why one promising superconductor has yielded mysteriously uneven results. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-window-superconductivity-reimagining-classic-tool.html Condensed Matter Fri, 20 Mar 2026 19:00:01 EDT news693228425 Quantum technologies are anticipated to transform computing, communication, and sensing by harnessing the unusual behavior of matter at the atomic scale. Translating quantum's promise into practical devices will require physical systems that have desirable quantum properties and can be easily manufactured. Silicon, the material behind today's computer chips, is highly attractive as a platform because it plays to the strengths of the trillion-dollar semiconductor industry that has already been built. Identifying quantum building blocks—qubits—in silicon is, therefore, an important frontier research area. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-robust-telecom-qubit-silicon.html Condensed Matter Wed, 25 Feb 2026 17:00:03 EST news691244281 Using atomic-scale defects in diamond, researchers in China have gained unprecedented insights into the complex chemical processes that unfold at the interfaces between solid surfaces and their surroundings. Published in Physical Review Letters, the results reveal that water molecules can form a nanoscale, ice-like layer on diamond surfaces—with important implications for our understanding of interfacial dynamics. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-diamond-surfaces-thin-ice-layers.html Nanophysics Tue, 24 Feb 2026 09:30:49 EST news691147795 The deep, murky pigment known as Prussian blue put the "blue" in traditional blueprints, colored Hokusai's "Great Wave off Kanagawa" and today is used for industrial purposes, from laundry to battery components to poison control. Now, research from the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering (UChicago PME) has found new uses for the important and inexpensive chemical and new understanding of the mechanisms that make Prussian blue analogs (PBAs) unique. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-prussian-blue-pigment-purification.html Analytical Chemistry Mon, 23 Feb 2026 15:30:02 EST news691080421 In collaboration with international partners, researchers at the University of Stuttgart have experimentally demonstrated a previously unknown form of magnetism in atomically thin material layers. The discovery is highly relevant for future magnetic data storage technologies and advances the fundamental understanding of magnetic interactions in two-dimensional systems. The results have now been published in Nature Nanotechnology. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-magnetism-2d-materials.html Nanophysics Sat, 07 Feb 2026 09:00:06 EST news689503128 A new theoretical study led by researchers at the University of Chicago and Argonne National Laboratory has identified the microscopic mechanisms by which diamond surfaces affect the quantum coherence of nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers—defects in diamond that underpin some of today's most sensitive quantum sensors. The study has appeared in Physical Review Materials and was selected to be an Editors' Suggestion paper. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-reveals-microscopic-surface-noise-limiting.html Quantum Physics Fri, 06 Feb 2026 13:45:27 EST news689607901 Ammonia, a key part of nitrogen fertilizers, is central to sustaining global food production. However, its manufacture is also energy intensive: Ammonia production requires 2% of global energy to meet global demand. Approximately 170 million metric tons (50%) of the global supply of ammonia is produced by the Haber-Bosch process, a common industrial process. Biological nitrogen fixation produces the other 50% of the global ammonia supply. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-nanocrystal-biohybrids-harvest-gas-ammonia.html Bio & Medicine Wed, 04 Feb 2026 15:14:22 EST news689440441 Magnetism on the moon has always been a bit confusing. Remote sensing probes have noted there is some magnetic signature, but far from the strong cocoon that surrounds Earth itself. Previous attempts to detect it in returned regolith samples blended together all of the rocks in those samples, leading to confusion about the source—whether they were caused by a strong inner dynamo in ages past, or by powerful asteroid impacts that magnetized the rocks they hit. A new study from Yibo Yang of Zhejiang University and Lin Xing of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, published recently in the journal Fundamental Research, shows that the right answer seems to be—a little of both. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-moon-diary-speck.html Planetary Sciences Tue, 03 Feb 2026 20:00:01 EST news689342155 With a new electrochemical synthesis via an electrochemical nitrogen reduction reaction (NRR), achieving carbon-free ammonia production is closer to reality through work from Drs. Abdoulaye Djire and Perla Balbuena, chemical engineering professors at Texas A&M University, and graduate students David Kumar and Hao En Lai. A topic outlined in their recent paper published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society introduces NRR, which produces ammonia in a cleaner and simpler way by using renewable electricity. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-proton-mnene-ammonia-production-food.html Analytical Chemistry Wed, 28 Jan 2026 15:50:51 EST news688837802 A team at Japan's National Institutes for Quantum Science and Technology (QST) has published a field-defining Perspective that places the societal payoff of quantum technologies front and center: earlier disease detection, faster drug development, and new routes to clean energy. Their paper has been published online in the journal ACS Nano on December 18, 2025. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-quantum-tools-life-science.html Bio & Medicine Thu, 15 Jan 2026 16:57:39 EST news687718621 Building large-scale quantum technologies requires reliable ways to connect individual quantum bits (qubits) without destroying their fragile quantum states. In a new theoretical study, published in npj Computational Materials, researchers show that crystal dislocations—line defects long regarded as imperfections—can instead serve as powerful building blocks for quantum interconnects. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-crystal-flaws-quantum-highways-route.html Condensed Matter Thu, 15 Jan 2026 10:30:01 EST news687695323 When quantum particles work together, they can produce signals far stronger than any one particle could generate alone. This collective phenomenon, called superradiance, is a powerful example of cooperation at the quantum level. Until now, superradiance was mostly known for making quantum systems lose their energy too quickly, posing challenges for quantum technologies. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-quantum-team-stable-microwave.html General Physics Fri, 02 Jan 2026 05:00:01 EST news686378841 Diamond is famous in material science for being the best natural heat conductor on Earth—but new research reveals that, at the atomic scale, it can briefly trap heat in unexpected ways. The findings could influence how scientists design diamond-based quantum technologies, including ultra-precise sensors and future quantum computers. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-nanoscopic-diamonds.html Optics & Photonics Tue, 09 Dec 2025 12:37:15 EST news684506221 In spaces smaller than a wavelength of light, electric currents jump from point to point and magnetic fields corkscrew through atomic lattices in ways that defy intuition. Scientists have only ever dreamed of observing these marvels directly. https://phys.org/news/2025-11-diamond-defects-pairs-reveal-hidden.html Condensed Matter Wed, 26 Nov 2025 11:00:18 EST news683291754 In a new study published in Nature Physics, researchers achieved the first experimental observation of a time rondeau crystal—a novel phase of matter where long-range temporal order coexists with short-time disorder. https://phys.org/news/2025-11-rondeau-crystal-scientists-temporal.html Condensed Matter Mon, 10 Nov 2025 07:30:01 EST news681738243 The path toward realizing practical quantum technologies begins with understanding the fundamental physics that govern quantum behavior—and how those phenomena can be harnessed in real materials. https://phys.org/news/2025-10-dimension-qubits-diamond.html Condensed Matter Thu, 30 Oct 2025 10:21:28 EDT news681038482