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. That low-frequency fuzz that can bedevil cellphone calls has to do with how electrons move through and interact in materials at the smallest scale. The electronic flicker noise is often caused by interruptions in the flow of electrons by various scattering processes in the metals that conduct them. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-electron-phonon-surfing-stabilize-quantum.html Condensed Matter Wed, 04 Feb 2026 17:21:01 EST news689448001 Mid- and far-infrared birefringent crystals are key functional materials for polarization control, laser technologies, and infrared photonics. However, existing materials generally suffer from limited infrared transparency, an intrinsic trade-off between large birefringence and wide transmission windows, and challenges in optical characterization due to restricted crystal dimensions. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-scientists-high-hg-based-crystal.html Condensed Matter Thu, 29 Jan 2026 14:42:22 EST news688920121 In a new study, an international group of researchers has found that chiral phonons can create orbital current without needing magnetic elements—in part because chiral phonons have their own magnetic moments. Additionally, this effect can be achieved in common crystal materials. The work has potential for the development of less expensive, energy-efficient orbitronic devices for use in a wide array of electronics. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-chiral-phonons-orbital-current-magnetism.html Condensed Matter Wed, 21 Jan 2026 12:10:05 EST news688219465 For much of my career, I have been fascinated by the ways in which materials behave when we reduce their dimensions to the nanoscale. Over and over, I've learned that when we shrink a material down to just a few nanometers in thickness, the familiar textbook rules of physics begin to bend, stretch, or sometimes break entirely. Heat transport is one of the areas where this becomes especially intriguing, because heat is carried by phonons—quantized vibrations of the atomic lattice—and phonons are exquisitely sensitive to spatial confinement. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-mystery-atoms-thin-materials.html Nanophysics Sun, 14 Dec 2025 10:00:03 EST news684755618 A researcher at the Department of Physics at Tohoku University has uncovered a surprising quantum phenomenon hidden inside ordinary crystals: the strength of interactions between electrons and lattice vibrations—known as phonons—is not continuous, but quantized. Even more remarkably, this strength is universally linked to one of the most iconic numbers in physics: the fine-structure constant. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-electron-phonon-interactions-crystals-quantized.html Condensed Matter Tue, 09 Dec 2025 11:10:02 EST news684500724 Phonons are sound particles or quantized vibrations of atoms in solid materials. The Debye model, a theory introduced by physicist Peter Debye in 1912, describes the contribution of phonons to the specific heat of materials and explains why the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of solids drops sharply at low temperatures. https://phys.org/news/2025-11-vibrational-anomalies-solids.html Condensed Matter Thu, 13 Nov 2025 07:00:02 EST news682163629 The rapidly growing field of research on chiral phonons is giving researchers new insights into the fundamental behaviors and structures of materials. The chirality of phonons could pave the way for new methods to control material properties and to encode information at the quantum level, which has implications for, among other areas, quantum technologies, electronics, energy transport, and sensor technology. https://phys.org/news/2025-11-qa-chiral-phonons-ways-materials.html Condensed Matter Tue, 11 Nov 2025 15:37:03 EST news682097821 Researchers have created a chip-based device that can split phonons—tiny packets of mechanical vibration that can carry information in quantum systems. By filling a key gap, this device could help connect various quantum devices via phonons, paving the way for advanced computing and secure quantum communication. https://phys.org/news/2025-10-chip-based-phonon-splitter-hybrid.html Optics & Photonics Mon, 06 Oct 2025 10:00:05 EDT news678963061 Atoms in crystalline solids sometimes vibrate in unison, giving rise to emergent phenomena known as phonons. Because these collective vibrations set the pace for how heat and energy move through materials, they play a central role in devices that capture or emit light, like solar cells and LEDs. https://phys.org/news/2025-09-nanoscale-slots-enable-room-temperature.html Condensed Matter Tue, 30 Sep 2025 16:46:03 EDT news678469561 While many plans for quantum computers transmit data using the particles of light known as photons, researchers from the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering (UChicago PME) are turning to sound. https://phys.org/news/2025-09-tomorrow-quantum.html Quantum Physics Thu, 18 Sep 2025 12:28:04 EDT news677417282 Caltech scientists have developed an artificial intelligence (AI)–based method that dramatically speeds up calculations of the quantum interactions that take place in materials. In new work, the group focuses on interactions among atomic vibrations, or phonons—interactions that govern a wide range of material properties, including heat transport, thermal expansion, and phase transitions. The new machine learning approach could be extended to compute all quantum interactions, potentially enabling encyclopedic knowledge about how particles and excitations behave in materials. https://phys.org/news/2025-09-machine-unravels-quantum-atomic-vibrations.html Condensed Matter Tue, 16 Sep 2025 15:16:03 EDT news677254561 A study conducted by researchers from the Changchun Institute of Optics, Fine Mechanics and Physics (CIOMP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has demonstrated how nitrogen vacancies (VN) resolve asymmetric carrier injection in GaN-based light-emitting diodes (LEDs), providing a practical way to improve device efficiency. https://phys.org/news/2025-08-defect-carrier-gan-based.html Condensed Matter Thu, 21 Aug 2025 11:12:02 EDT news674993521 Using new techniques, Yale researchers have demonstrated the ability to use lasers to cool quantized vibrations of sound within massive objects to their quantum ground state, the lowest energy allowable by quantum mechanics. This breakthrough could benefit communications, quantum computing, and other applications. The results are published in Nature Physics. https://phys.org/news/2025-08-lasers-crystal-vibrations-quantum-ground.html Optics & Photonics Fri, 15 Aug 2025 12:30:00 EDT news674479790 In a new study published in Nature Physics, scientists have achieved the first experimental observation of phonon angular momentum in chiral crystals. https://phys.org/news/2025-08-scientists-phonon-angular-momentum-chiral.html Condensed Matter Thu, 14 Aug 2025 11:00:09 EDT news674383921 Just as overlapping ripples on a pond can amplify or cancel each other out, waves of many kinds—including light, sound and atomic vibrations—can interfere with one another. At the quantum level, this kind of interference powers high-precision sensors and could be harnessed for quantum computing. https://phys.org/news/2025-08-powerful-quantum-paves-phonon-based.html Condensed Matter Mon, 11 Aug 2025 14:39:04 EDT news674141941 A new study published in Science Advances by researchers from the National Graphene Institute at University of Manchester and the University of Oviedo, has revealed a previously unseen behavior of light in gypsum, a mineral better known for its use in building plaster and chalk. https://phys.org/news/2025-07-behavior-gypsum.html Condensed Matter Mon, 21 Jul 2025 11:25:10 EDT news672315906 Gao Peng's research group at the International Center for Quantum Materials, School of Physics, Peking University, has developed a breakthrough method for visualizing interfacial phonon transport with sub-nanometer resolution. Leveraging fast electron inelastic scattering in electron microscopy, the team directly measured temperature fields and thermal resistance across interfaces, unveiling the microscopic mechanism of phonon-mediated heat transport at the nanoscale. https://phys.org/news/2025-06-phonon-materials-visualized-atomic.html Condensed Matter Fri, 20 Jun 2025 10:46:49 EDT news669635206 Recent technological advances have opened new exciting possibilities for the development of cutting-edge quantum devices, including quantum random access memory (QRAM) systems. These are memory architectures specifically meant to be integrated inside quantum computers, which can simultaneously retrieve data from multiple 'locations' leveraging a quantum effect known as coherent superposition. https://phys.org/news/2025-06-quantum-random-access-memory-based.html Quantum Physics Thu, 12 Jun 2025 10:19:23 EDT news668942346 The wildest trampoline in the world swings sideways and "around corners." Yet, no one can jump on it, because it's not even a millimeter tall. Physicists from the University of Konstanz, the University of Copenhagen, and ETH Zurich designed and constructed it. Why? The aim is to demonstrate improved methods of phonon transport—for example, for use in microchips, where phonons are directed through tight bends. The research is published in the journal Nature. https://phys.org/news/2025-06-physicists-microscopic-trampoline-microchips.html Nanophysics Thu, 05 Jun 2025 11:24:03 EDT news668341442 A research team has discovered how to make a promising energy-harvesting material much more efficient—without relying on rare or expensive elements. The material, called β-Zn4Sb3, is a tellurium-free thermoelectric compound that can convert waste heat into electricity. https://phys.org/news/2025-05-smart-phonon-boosts-efficiency-eco.html Condensed Matter Mon, 26 May 2025 10:17:03 EDT news667473421 Imagine you are playing the guitar—each pluck of a string creates a sound wave that vibrates and interacts with other waves. Now shrink that idea down to a small single molecule, and instead of sound waves, picture vibrations that carry heat. https://phys.org/news/2025-05-tiny-thermal-sensor-molecules-mute.html Condensed Matter Wed, 07 May 2025 16:19:19 EDT news665853555 In new research published in Nature, Weizmann Institute scientists introduce a powerful tool to explore quantum phenomena—the cryogenic Quantum Twisting Microscope (QTM). https://phys.org/news/2025-04-microscope-reveals-quantum-atoms-graphene.html Condensed Matter Wed, 23 Apr 2025 11:00:02 EDT news664472881 Scientists are racing to develop new materials for quantum technologies in computing and sensing for ultraprecise measurements. For these future technologies to transition from the laboratory to real-world applications, a much deeper understanding is needed of the behavior near surfaces, especially those at interfaces between materials. https://phys.org/news/2025-02-nanoscale-technique-atomic-vibrations-quantum.html Condensed Matter Tue, 18 Feb 2025 16:27:04 EST news659118421 Quantum computers have the potential of outperforming classical computers on some optimization and computational tasks. Compared to classical systems, however, quantum systems are more prone to errors, as they are more sensitive to noise and prone to so-called decoherence. https://phys.org/news/2025-01-phononic-bandgap-materials-suppress-decoherence.html Condensed Matter Wed, 29 Jan 2025 14:50:06 EST news657383993 Phonons, the quantum mechanical vibrations of atoms in solids, are often sources of noise in solid-state quantum systems, including quantum technologies, which can lead to decoherence and thus adversely impact their performance. https://phys.org/news/2025-01-newly-fabricated-crystals-interactions-high.html Quantum Physics Tue, 21 Jan 2025 07:00:04 EST news656591729 An interdisciplinary collaboration between condensed-matter, quantum-optics and particle physicists has the potential to crack the search for low-mass dark matter. The proposed quantum detector builds on EQUS studies of elementary excitations in superfluid helium and advances in opto-mechanics. https://phys.org/news/2024-12-physicists-quantumoptomechanical-solution-dark.html General Physics Fri, 06 Dec 2024 10:51:04 EST news652704660 Scientists at the University of California, Irvine have uncovered the atomic-scale mechanics that enhance superconductivity in an iron-based material, a finding published recently in Nature. https://phys.org/news/2024-12-scientists-reveal-superconductivity-secrets-iron.html Condensed Matter Thu, 05 Dec 2024 14:55:03 EST news652632902 For a wide variety of emerging quantum technologies, such as secure quantum communications and quantum computing, quantum entanglement is a prerequisite. Scientists at the Max-Planck-Institute for the Science of Light (MPL) have now demonstrated a particularly efficient way in which photons can be entangled with acoustic phonons. https://phys.org/news/2024-11-scientists-entangling.html Optics & Photonics Thu, 14 Nov 2024 10:56:03 EST news650804162 Researchers from the Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo, have developed a method to control the direction of heat flow in crystals. This miniature device could eventually be used to create advanced thermal-management systems in electronic devices to prevent overheating. https://phys.org/news/2024-10-tesla-method-graphite-crystals.html Condensed Matter Wed, 16 Oct 2024 11:00:02 EDT news648292696 Scientists have made a significant leap in developing lasers that use sound waves instead of light. These phonon lasers hold promise for advancements in medical imaging, deep-sea exploration, and other areas. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-method-phonon-lasers-stable-powerful.html Optics & Photonics Fri, 06 Sep 2024 13:27:02 EDT news644848021