https://phys.org/physics-news/materials en-us The latest news on Physics, Materials, Science and Technology Friction is hard to predict and control, especially since surfaces that come in contact are rarely perfectly flat. New experiments demonstrate that the amount of friction between two silicon surfaces, even at large scales, is determined by the forming and rupturing of microscopic chemical bonds between them. This makes it possible to control the amount of friction using surface chemistry techniques. This research has been published in Physical Review Letters. https://phys.org/news/2023-12-friction-small-large-scales.html General Physics Condensed Matter Fri, 01 Dec 2023 08:14:32 EST news620640870 A future quantum network may become less of a stretch thanks to researchers at the University of Chicago, Argonne National Laboratory and Cambridge University. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-diamond-quantum-bits.html Condensed Matter Quantum Physics Thu, 30 Nov 2023 10:11:08 EST news620561465 Researchers at the University of Konstanz have discovered a new type of ultrafast magnetic switching by investigating fluctuations that normally tend to interfere with experiments as noise. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-scientists-ultrafast-magnetic-noise.html Condensed Matter Optics & Photonics Wed, 29 Nov 2023 11:00:42 EST news620478039 Scientists have revealed how lattice vibrations and spins talk to each other in a hybrid excitation known as an electromagnon. To achieve this, they used a unique combination of experiments at the X-ray free electron laser SwissFEL. Understanding this fundamental process at the atomic level opens the door to ultrafast control of magnetism with light. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-secret-life-electromagnon-ultrafast-magnetism.html Condensed Matter Optics & Photonics Tue, 28 Nov 2023 10:49:03 EST news620390941 When a negatively charged electron and a positively charged hole in a pair remain bound together following excitation by light, they produce states known as excitons. These states can influence the optical properties of materials, in turn enabling their use for developing various technologies. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-formation-excitonic-mott-insulator-state.html Condensed Matter Quantum Physics Mon, 27 Nov 2023 09:10:01 EST news620039139 True to form, a "strange metal" quantum material proved strangely quiet in recent quantum noise experiments at Rice University. Published this week in Science, the measurements of quantum charge fluctuations known as "shot noise" provide the first direct evidence that electricity seems to flow through strange metals in an unusual liquidlike form that cannot be readily explained in terms of quantized packets of charge known as quasiparticles. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-physicists-evidence-exotic-quantum-material.html Condensed Matter Quantum Physics Thu, 23 Nov 2023 14:00:01 EST news619867666 Hopfions, magnetic spin structures predicted decades ago, have become a hot and challenging research topic in recent years. In a study published in Nature, the first experimental evidence is presented by a Swedish-German-Chinese research collaboration. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-experimental-evidence-hopfions-crystals-dimension.html Condensed Matter Wed, 22 Nov 2023 11:00:01 EST news619867713 As demand rises for increased data storage and faster-performing computers, researchers are creating a new generation of materials to meet consumers' expectations. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-magnets.html Condensed Matter Quantum Physics Tue, 21 Nov 2023 04:12:31 EST news619762349 Quantum scientists have discovered a rare phenomenon that could hold the key to creating a 'perfect switch' in quantum devices which flips between being an insulator and a superconductor. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-reveals-rare-metal-revolutionary-future.html Condensed Matter Quantum Physics Mon, 20 Nov 2023 10:38:47 EST news619699123 In 1973, physicist Phil Anderson hypothesized that the quantum spin liquid, or QSL, state existed on some triangular lattices, but he lacked the tools to delve deeper. Fifty years later, a team led by researchers associated with the Quantum Science Center headquartered at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory has confirmed the presence of QSL behavior in a new material with this structure, KYbSe2. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-three-pronged-approach-discerns-qualities-quantum.html Condensed Matter Quantum Physics Thu, 16 Nov 2023 15:31:47 EST news619371091 For a magnet to stick to a fridge door, several physical effects inside of it need to work together perfectly. The magnetic moments of its electrons all point in the same direction, even if no external magnetic field forces them to do so. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-ferromagnetism-alignment-magnetic-moments.html Condensed Matter Quantum Physics Wed, 15 Nov 2023 11:44:06 EST news619271042 A team of physicists at the University of Cologne has solved a long-standing problem of condensed matter physics: they have directly observed the Kondo effect (the re-grouping of electrons in a metal caused by magnetic impurities) visible in a single artificial atom. This has not been done successfully in the past, since the magnetic orbitals of atoms usually cannot be directly observed with most measurement techniques. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-riddle-kondo-effect-artificial-atom.html Condensed Matter Wed, 15 Nov 2023 11:16:04 EST news619269361 Metamaterials are products of engineering wizardry. They are made from everyday polymers, ceramics, and metals. And when constructed precisely at the microscale, in intricate architectures, these ordinary materials can take on extraordinary properties. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-technique-acoustic-lenses-impact-resistant-futuristic.html Condensed Matter Optics & Photonics Wed, 15 Nov 2023 11:00:01 EST news619263421 For the past few decades, physicists and materials scientists around the world have been busy developing computer codes that simulate the key properties of materials, and they can now choose from a whole family of such tools, using them to publish tens of thousands of scientific articles per year. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-gold-standard-materials-science-codes.html Condensed Matter Tue, 14 Nov 2023 09:59:39 EST news619178375 RIKEN researchers have brought low-energy devices based on spintronics one step closer, by measuring the dynamics of tiny magnetic vortices. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-dynamics-skyrmion-states-neutron-scattering.html Condensed Matter Sat, 11 Nov 2023 09:10:01 EST news618829383 Deep within every piece of magnetic material, electrons dance to the invisible tune of quantum mechanics. Their spins, akin to tiny atomic tops, dictate the magnetic behavior of the material they inhabit. This microscopic ballet is the cornerstone of magnetic phenomena, and it's these spins that a team of JILA researchers—headed by JILA Fellows and University of Colorado Boulder professors Margaret Murnane and Henry Kapteyn—has learned to control with remarkable precision, potentially redefining the future of electronics and data storage. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-secrets-high-harmonic-probes.html Condensed Matter Quantum Physics Fri, 10 Nov 2023 14:00:01 EST news618827886 Quantum materials hold the key to a future of lightning-speed, energy-efficient information systems. The problem with tapping their transformative potential is that in solids, the vast number of atoms often drowns out the exotic quantum properties electrons carry. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-leverages-chiral-phonons-quantum-effect.html Condensed Matter Quantum Physics Thu, 09 Nov 2023 15:22:03 EST news618765721 Electrons move through a conducting material like commuters at the height of Manhattan rush hour. The charged particles may jostle and bump against each other, but for the most part, they're unconcerned with other electrons as they hurtle forward, each with their own energy. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-physicists-electrons-3d-crystal.html Condensed Matter Quantum Physics Wed, 08 Nov 2023 12:40:07 EST news618669604 A method developed at the University of Duisburg-Essen makes it possible to read data from noisy signals. Theoretical physicists and their experimental colleagues have published their findings in the current issue of Physical Review Research. The method they describe could also be significant for quantum computers. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-eavesdropping-electron-method-noise.html Condensed Matter Quantum Physics Wed, 08 Nov 2023 11:06:17 EST news618663969 Weyl semimetals are highly sought after by material scientists. First predicted in the early 2010s, they belong to the class of topological materials that owe their unique transport, optical and thermoelectric behavior to distinct geometric and topological features, rather than to their chemical composition. What sets Weyl semimetals apart is that their electrons behave as if they are massless due to the presence of nodes in the electronic band structure, leading to unusual and interesting properties. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-widely-weyl-semimetal-shown-magnetic.html Condensed Matter Tue, 07 Nov 2023 09:22:03 EST news618571321 Researchers from the National Graphene Institute at the University of Manchester have discovered a way to use light to accelerate proton transport through graphene, which could revolutionize the way we generate hydrogen. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-graphene-proton-permeability-future-energy.html Condensed Matter Optics & Photonics Mon, 06 Nov 2023 11:23:51 EST news618492228 In a new study, researchers from the University of California, Santa Barbara, (UCSB) have reported the discovery of a spin microemulsion in two-dimensional systems of spinor Bose-Einstein condensates, shedding light on a novel phase transition marked by the loss of superfluidity, complex pseudospin textures, and the emergence of topological defects. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-supersolid-microemulsion-exploring-spin-orbit-coupled.html Condensed Matter Quantum Physics Mon, 06 Nov 2023 10:00:01 EST news618486603 In the realm of engineering and material science, detecting hidden structures or defects within materials is crucial. Traditional terahertz imaging systems, which rely on the unique property of terahertz waves to penetrate visibly opaque materials, have been developed to reveal the internal structures of various materials of interest. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-hidden-defects-materials-single-pixel-terahertz.html Condensed Matter Optics & Photonics Mon, 06 Nov 2023 09:58:03 EST news618487081 Researchers in Germany and the U.S. have produced the first theoretical demonstration that the magnetic state of an atomically thin material, α-RuCl3, can be controlled solely by placing it into an optical cavity. Crucially, the cavity vacuum fluctuations alone are sufficient to change the material's magnetic order from a zigzag antiferromagnet into a ferromagnet. The team's work has been published in npj Computational Materials. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-vacuum-optical-cavity-material-magnetic.html Condensed Matter Optics & Photonics Fri, 03 Nov 2023 11:06:02 EDT news618228361 For researchers wanting to understand the inner workings of magnetic materials, transmission electron microscopy is an indispensable tool. Because the wavelength of an electron is much shorter than the wavelength of visible light, a beam of electrons transmitted through a thin slice of a material can create an image in which the inner structure of the material is magnified up to 50 million times, many orders of magnitude more than with an optical microscope. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-long-standing-problem-transmission-electron-microscopy.html Condensed Matter Optics & Photonics Thu, 02 Nov 2023 13:05:34 EDT news618149130 Researchers from Lancaster University in the UK have discovered how superfluid helium 3He would feel if you could put your hand into it. Dr. Samuli Autti is the lead author of the research published in Nature Communications. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-2d-quantum-superfluid.html Condensed Matter Quantum Physics Thu, 02 Nov 2023 06:00:01 EDT news618071301 A research collaboration co-led by EPFL has uncovered a surprising magnetic property of an exotic material that might lead to computers that need less than one-millionth of the energy required to switch a single bit. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-strange-magnetic-material-energy-efficient.html Condensed Matter Wed, 01 Nov 2023 11:13:55 EDT news618056032 In a quantum leap toward the future of unconventional computing technologies, a team of physicists made an advancement in spatial manipulation and energy control of room-temperature quantum fluids of light, aka polariton condensates, marking a pivotal milestone for the development of high-speed, all-optical polariton logic devices that have long held the key to next-generation unconventional computing, according to a recently published paper in Physical Review Letters. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-scientists-quantum-fluids-closer-next-generation.html Condensed Matter Optics & Photonics Tue, 31 Oct 2023 12:42:02 EDT news617974921 An international team of researchers including a team from the Center for the Advancement of Topological Semimetals (CATS), an Energy Frontier Research Center under the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science led by Ames National Laboratory, experimentally demonstrated a new type of nonlinear Hall effect. This Hall effect is driven by the quantum metric, which defines the distances between electronic wavefunctions inside a crystal. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-theoretical-illuminates-nonlinear-hall-effect.html Condensed Matter Quantum Physics Mon, 30 Oct 2023 12:34:03 EDT news617888041 In a paper published recently in Advanced Science, researchers from the Paul Drude Institute in Berlin, Germany, and the Xiamen University, Xiamen, China, demonstrated that ferrimagnetic NiCo2O4 (NCO) constitutes a solution for the long-term challenge of finding materials with a robust out-of-plane magnetization. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-solution-long-term-benefits-spintronics-storage.html Condensed Matter Quantum Physics Mon, 30 Oct 2023 11:24:03 EDT news617883842