Surprising electronic disorder in a copper oxide-based ceramic

Cuprates, a class of copper-oxide ceramics that share a common building block of copper and oxygen atoms in a flat square lattice, have been studied for their ability to be superconducting at relatively high temperatures. ...

Laser sparks revolution in internal combustion engines

For more than 150 years, spark plugs have powered internal combustion engines. Automakers are now one step closer to being able to replace this long-standing technology with laser igniters, which will enable cleaner, more ...

Puzzled Physicists Solve Decade-Long Discrepancies

(PhysOrg.com) -- A team led by physicists at the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) and Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) have resolved a decade-long puzzle that is set to have huge implications for use of ...

Shape memory achieved for nano-sized objects

Alloys that can return to their original structure after being deformed have a so-called shape memory. This phenomenon and the resulting forces are used in many mechanical actuating systems, for example in generators or hydraulic ...

Collaboration sparks new model for ceramic conductivity

As insulators, metal oxides—also known as ceramics—may not seem like obvious candidates for electrical conductivity. While electrons zip back and forth in regular metals, their movement in ceramic materials is sluggish ...

Buckle up for fast ionic conduction

ETH material engineers found that the performance of ion-conducting ceramic membranes that are so important in industry depends largely on their strain and buckling profiles. For the first time, scientists can now selectively ...

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