Periodic pattern consisting of magnons is formed at room temperature A team of researchers has succeeded in creating a micrometer-sized space-time crystal consisting of magnons at room temperature. With the help of an ultra-precise X-ray microscope, they were able to capture the recurring periodic magnetization structure in a movie. The research project “Real space observation of magnon interaction with driven space-time crystals” was published in Physical Review Letters. A German-Polish research team has succeeded in creating a micrometer-sized space-time crystal…
The first demonstration of an approach that inverts the standard paradigm of scanning probe microscopy raises the prospect of force sensing at the fundamental limit. The development of scanning probe microscopes in the early 1980s brought a breakthrough in imaging, throwing open a window into the world at the nanoscale. The key idea is to scan an extremely sharp tip over a substrate and to record at each location the strength of the interaction between tip and surface. In scanning…
Today’s digital world generates vast amounts of data every second. Hence, there is a need for memory chips that can store more data in less space, as well as the ability to read and write that data faster while using less energy. Researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS), working with collaborators from the University of Oxford, Diamond Light Source (the United Kingdom’s national synchrotron science facility) and University of Wisconsin Madison, have now developed an ultra-thin material with…
What does the internal structure of atomic nuclei look like? Physicists can approach this question by using precision measurements of the weight, size, and shape of atomic nuclei. An international research team, including physicists from Greifswald, has now studied the short-lived mercury isotopes 207Hg and 208Hg. For this purpose, they conducted laser-spectroscopy measurements at the European research centre CERN. Based on these measurements, researchers are able to confirm predictions about the forces and structures in these nuclei. The results of…
Short flashes of light with sustaining impact Superconductivity – the ability of a material to transmit an electric current without loss – is a quantum effect that, despite years of research, is still limited to very low temperatures. Now a team of scientists at the Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter (MPSD) in Hamburg has succeeded in creating a metastable state with vanishing electrical resistance in a molecular solid by exposing it to finely tuned pulses…
Today’s quantum computers contain up to several dozen memory and processing units, the so-called qubits. Severin Daiss, Stefan Langenfeld, and colleagues from the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics in Garching have successfully interconnected two such qubits located in different labs to a distributed quantum computer by linking the qubits with a 60-meter-long optical fiber. Over such a distance they realized a quantum-logic gate – the basic building block of a quantum computer. It makes the system the worldwide first…
For the first time, researchers at the University of Rochester have developed an optical coating that can simultaneously reflect and transmit the same wavelength, or color. For more than a century, optical coatings have been used to better reflect certain wavelengths of light from lenses and other devices or, conversely, to better transmit certain wavelengths through them. For example, the coatings on tinted eyeglasses reflect, or “block out,” harmful blue light and ultraviolet rays. But until now, no optical coating…
The SKA Observatory, a new intergovernmental organisation dedicated to radio astronomy, was launched today following the first meeting of the Observatory’s Council. The new Observatory, known as SKAO, is the world’s second intergovernmental organisation to be dedicated to astronomy. Headquartered in the UK on the grounds of the Jodrell Bank UNESCO World Heritage Site with sites in Australia and South Africa, SKAO is tasked with building and operating the two largest and most complex radio telescope networks ever conceived to…
New study found that electrons can reach ultra-relativistic energies for very special conditions in the magnetosphere when space is devoid of plasma. New study found that electrons can reach ultra-relativistic energies for very special conditions in the magnetosphere when space is devoid of plasma. Recent measurements from NASA’s Van Allen Probes spacecraft showed that electrons can reach ultra-relativistic energies flying at almost the speed of light. Hayley Allison, Yuri Shprits and collaborators from the German Research Centre for Geosciences have…
Completion of Australian-led astronomy project sheds light on the evolution of the Universe. The complex mechanics determining how galaxies spin, grow, cluster and die have been revealed following the release of all the data gathered during a massive seven-year Australian-led astronomy research project. The scientists observed 13 galaxies at a time, building to a total of 3068, using a custom-built instrument called the Sydney-AAO Multi-Object Integral-Field Spectrograph (SAMI), connected to the 4-metre Anglo-Australian Telescope (AAT) at Siding Spring Observatory in…
A new method for constructing special solar cells could significantly increase their efficiency. Not only are the cells made up of thin layers, they also consist of specifically arranged nanoblocks. This has been shown in a new study by an international research team led by the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU), which was published in the scientific journal “Nano Letters”. Commercially available solar cells are mostly made of silicon. “Based on the properties of silicon it’s not feasible to say…
A consortium led by physicist Wolfram Pernice from the University of Münster is receiving almost six million euros for four years from the European Commission for the “PHOENICS” project as part of the “FET Proactive” funding line (Horizon 2020). The group is researching fast and energy-efficient optical computer architectures. The project is intended to give a major boost to the development of new computing resources. Artificial intelligence (AI) is seen as a key technology with fields of application in a…
Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter (MPSD) in Hamburg, RWTH Aachen University (both in Germany), the Flatiron institute as well as Columbia University (both in the USA) and part of the Max Planck – New York City Center for Non-equilibrium Quantum Phenomena have provided a fresh perspective on the potential of twisted van der Waals materials for realising novel and elusive states of matter and providing a unique materials-based quantum simulation platform. The…
Studying the creation and evolution of sulfur-containing compounds in outer space is essential for understanding interstellar chemistry. CS2 is believed to be the most important molecule in comet nuclei, interstellar dust, or ice cores. CS and S2 are the photodissociation fragments of CS2. Forty years ago, the emission spectra of only CS and S2 species, and not those of CS2 species, were observed from several comets by the International Ultraviolet Explorer satellite. The photodissociation mechanism of CS2 molecules remains unclear,…
In this study, researchers have demonstrated that by feeding machine-learning algorithms with high-throughput experimental datasets, it is possible to retrieve predictive models for the performance of organic solar cells. Knowing how to predict the specific composition and cell design that would result in optimum performance is one of the greatest unresolved problems in materials science. This is, in part, due to the fact that the device performance depends on multiple factors. Now, researchers from the Institute of Materials Science of…
With a powerful enough light, you can see things that people once thought would be impossible. Large-scale light source facilities generate that powerful light, and scientists use it to create more durable materials, build more efficient batteries and computers, and learn more about the natural world. When it comes to building these massive facilities, space is money. If you can get higher-energy beams of light out of smaller devices, you can save millions on construction costs. Add to that the…
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