New technique produces longer-lasting lithium batteries Researchers have developed a new method for safely prolonging battery life by inserting a nano-coating of boron nitride (BN) to stabilize solid electrolytes in lithium metal batteries. The team focuse …
Photonics: The curious case of the disappearing cylinders A pair of researchers describes a way of making a submicron-sized cylinder disappear without using any specialized coating. Their findings could enable invisibility of natural materials at optical fre …
Coincidence helps with quantum measurements Through randomly selected measurements, physicists can determine the quantum entanglement of many-particle systems. With the newly developed method, quantum simulations can be extended to a larger num …
Exploring what happens inside fires and explosions The inside of a fire might be the last place one would explore, but a new method to do just that could lead to advances in fighting fires, creating cleaner engines and even space travel.
New form of laser for sound The optical laser has grown to a $10 billion global technology market since it was invented in 1960, and has led to Nobel prizes for Art Ashkin for developing optical tweezing and Gerard Mourou and Do …
The art of protein blacksmithing Biological physicists took inspiration from the mighty blacksmith to refine their computational models of how proteins fold. These models will help structural biologists who design drugs and other the …
Light from exotic particle states In ultra thin materials, exotic bound states of particles can be created which are then converted into light. Scientists at TU Wien (Vienna) have now succeeded in using this effect to create a novel k …
Quantum simulation more stable than expected A localization phenomenon boosts the accuracy of solving quantum many-body problems with quantum computers which are otherwise challenging for conventional computers. This brings such digital quantum …
New method inverts the self-assembly of liquid crystals In liquid crystals, molecules automatically arrange themselves in an ordered fashion. Researchers have discovered a method that allows an anti-ordered state, which will enable novel material propertie …
Scientists build a machine to see all possible futures Researchers have implemented a prototype quantum device that can generate and analyze a quantum superposition of possible futures. Using a novel quantum algorithm, the possible outcomes of a decision …
Scientists drill into white graphene to create artificial atoms By drilling holes into a thin two-dimensional sheet of hexagonal boron nitride with a gallium-focused ion beam, scientists have created artificial atoms that generate single photons, which work in air …
New ways to image, characterize unique material Researchers have imaged and modeled the unique geometry of 2D borophene, a material that could surpass the promises of graphene for electronic, thermal, optical and other applications.
Inner electrons behave differently in aromatic hydrocarbons Scientists found that four hydrocarbon molecules, known for their internal ring structure, have a lower threshold for the release of excess energy than molecules without a similar ring structure, beca …
The cost of computation There's been a rapid resurgence of interest in understanding the energy cost of computing. Recent advances in this 'thermodynamics of computation' are now summarized.
Spin lasers facilitate rapid data transfer Engineers have developed a novel concept for rapid data transfer via optical fiber cables. In current systems, a laser transmits light signals through the cables and information is coded in the modula …
Detecting pollution with a compact laser source Researchers have developed a simple mid-infrared laser source that can be used to detect pollution in the air or molecules in someone's breath. Their system takes up considerably less space than …
Ushering in ultrafast cluster electronics A new computational method can help fast track the development of tiny, ultrafast electronic devices made from small clusters of molecules.
How to ice-proof the next generation of aircraft To prevent ice formation on aircraft during flight, current systems utilize the heat generated by burning fuel, but these high-temperature, fuel-dependent systems cannot be used on the proposed all-el …
Putting a new spin on Majorana fermions Scientists have proposed a new method for producing more robust Majorana fermions, a kind of quasiparticle that could act as stable bits of information in next-generation quantum computers.
Quantum optical cooling of nanoparticles One important requirement to see quantum effects is to remove all thermal energy from the particle motion, i.e. to cool it as close as possible to absolute zero temperature. Researchers are now one st …
Quantum physics and origami for the ultimate get-well card The bizarre optical properties of tiny metal particles — smaller than light waves — can be captured on paper to detect even a single target molecule in a test sample. These hyper-sensitive testing d …
Dark matter experiment finds no evidence of axions Physicists have performed the first run of a new experiment to detect axions — hypothetical particles that are predicted to be among the lightest particles in the universe. The team reports that in t …
Listening to the quantum vacuum Since the historic finding of gravitational waves from two black holes colliding over a billion light years away was made in 2015, physicists are advancing knowledge about the limits on the precision …
Matter waves and quantum splinters Physicists have shown that shaking ultracold Bose-Einstein condensates can cause them to either divide into uniform segments or shatter into unpredictable splinters, depending on the frequency of the …
Chemicals induce dipoles to damp plasmons A new study discovers a mechanism by which molecules affect the plasmonic response of gold nanorods. The mechanism could be used to enhance applications like catalysis that involve plasmon-driven chem …
Research elucidates why protons are at the heart of atoms spin A major new finding about the fundamental structure of all matter has just been published. The research stems from an analysis of data produced by an experiment in polarized proton-proton collisions.
Golden ball in a golden cage Researchers have synthesized a tiny structure from 32 gold atoms. This nanocluster has a core of 12 gold atoms surrounded by a shell of 20 additional gold atoms. The unusual stability of this cluster …
In a new quantum simulator, light behaves like a magnet Physicists propose a new 'quantum simulator': a laser-based device that can be used to study a wide range of quantum systems. Studying it, the researchers have found that photons can behave …