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Manchester, England— On a rare sunny day in northern England, the National Graphene Institute (NGI) here gleams like a five-story block of obsidian. Squeezed into the University of Manchester’s sprawling downtown campus, the research center is clad in almost 2000 lustrous black panels with small hexagonal perforations—an architectural nod to the structure of the atom-thin sheet of carbon that gives the building its name.

NGI exists because graphene was first isolated a short walk away in a University of Manchester lab. Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov presented it to the world 20 years ago this month and later won a Nobel Prize for the work. Since its unveiling, billions of dollars of R&D funding have flowed to graphene, in a global race to exploit its peerless properties. It is better at carrying electricity than any metal, a superb heat conductor, and hundreds of times stronger than steel—selling points trumpeted in the marketing materials of universities and companies alike.

Early on, researchers were not shy about promising graphene breakthroughs, with predictions that it would enable superthin rollable TVs and space elevators, and even supplant silicon in computer chips. “Expectations were very, very high,” Geim says. “The companies I was involved in were mostly based on hype.”

Quantum physicists have developed a new type of optical atomic clock, using quantum entanglement among strontium atoms to achieve unprecedented precision.

This breakthrough could significantly impact quantum computing and precision sensing, although it currently operates effectively for only milliseconds.

Quantum Advances in Timekeeping.

This chip has speed that defies the light speed barrier while maintaining cool temperatures using a special metamaterial that allows the light particles to go infinitely fast.

Most metamaterial experiments occur in bulk transmission geometries. Here researchers demonstrate integrated in-plane zero-index metamaterials.

In the quantum world, materials called “altermagnets” behave in unique ways that could pave the way for new technologies.

This unique magnetism makes altermagnets highly promising for the development of new spintronic and electronic devices. It also opens new possibilities for the study of topological materials (i.e., systems with unique electronic properties originating from their electronic structure’s topology).

Researchers at Stony Brook University carried out a study aimed at better understanding the nonlinear response of planar altermagnets. Their paper, published in Physical Review Letters, reports the observation of a non-linear response in these materials derived from their quantum geometry.

Continue reading “Physicists reveal nonlinear transport induced by quantum geometry in planar altermagnets” »

Imagine being able to see electrons — the tiny particles that buzz around atoms — in action, darting and swirling in their frenetic dance. This isn’t science fiction anymore.

Scientists have recently developed a state-of-the-art microscope that allows us to observe these elusive particles moving at unimaginable speeds, revealing the intricate behaviors and interactions that occur at the atomic level.

This innovative technology opens up new frontiers for research in physics and materials science, providing unprecedented insights into the fundamental building blocks of matter.

The edible transistor is based on an existing transistor architecture, utilizing CuPc as the active material. The key component, the electrolyte-gated OFET (EGOFET), operates at low voltages (1 V) and can function stably for more than a year. The transistor showed good reproducibility, with performance characteristics that pave the way for integrating these devices into more complex edible circuits.

The circuits are constructed on a derivative of cellulose with electrical contacts being printed using inkjet technology and a solution of gold particles (which are also commonly used in the food industry for decoration). The transistor “gate” is also food-grade. This component controls the flow of electrical current between the source and drain terminals, effectively acting as a switch or amplifier. This gate is made from a gel based on chitosan another food-grade ingredient used as a gelling agent.

The research team also explored the optical and morphological properties of CuPc thin films. They found that the thickness of the CuPc layer played a crucial role in the transistor’s performance. Thinner films displayed better charge transport properties, which are essential for creating high-performing, low-voltage devices. This detailed understanding of the material’s properties allowed the team to optimize the transistor’s design for use in real-world applications.

The Sun has started spooky season with a bang, letting loose on October 1 with a colossal flare and coronal mass ejection headed right for Earth.

The flare clocked in at X7.1 – the second most powerful flare of the current solar cycle, and one of the most powerful solar flares ever measured, sitting within the top 30 flares over the last 30 years.

We’re not in any danger, but the NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center has forecast minor to strong geomagnetic storms over the next few days, from 3 to 5 October, as we await the gust of solar particles as the coronal mass ejection blasts through the Solar System.

A black hole analog could tell us a thing or two about an elusive radiation theoretically emitted by the real thing.

Using a chain of atoms in single-file to simulate the event horizon of a black hole, a team of physicists in 2022 observed the equivalent of what we call Hawking radiation – particles born from disturbances in the quantum fluctuations caused by the black hole’s break in spacetime.

This, they say, could help resolve the tension between two currently irreconcilable frameworks for describing the Universe: the general theory of relativity, which describes the behavior of gravity as a continuous field known as spacetime; and quantum mechanics, which describes the behavior of discrete particles using the mathematics of probability.

Scientists have devised a method to detect nuclear decay through the subtle movement of microparticles, enhancing our understanding of elusive particles like neutrinos.

This breakthrough paves the way for improved nuclear monitoring tools and could be enhanced by future quantum technologies.

Radioactivity is all around us, even in everyday items. For example, bananas contain trace amounts of radioactive potassium, with approximately 10 nuclei decaying every second in a typical banana. While these tiny amounts of radioactivity are not dangerous, there is growing scientific interest in enhancing the precision of tools for detecting such nuclear decays.