HZDR team comes across unexpected flow behavior in liquid metals. Some metals are in liquid form, the prime example being mercury. But there are also enormous quantities of liquid metal in the Earth’s core, where temperatures are so high that part of the iron is molten and undergoes complex flows. A team at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) has now simulated a similar process in the laboratory and made a surprising discovery: Under certain circumstances, the flow of liquid metal is…
Unlike fictional laser swords, real laser beams do not interact with each other when they cross – unless the beams meet within a suitable material allowing for nonlinear light-matter interaction. In such a case, wave mixing can give rise to beams with changed colors and directions. Wave-mixing processes between different light beams are one cornerstone of the field of nonlinear optics, which is firmly established since lasers have become widely available. Within a suitable material such as particular crystals, two…
Room-temperature superconductors could transform everything from electrical grids to particle accelerators to computers – but before they can be realized, researchers need to better understand how existing high-temperature superconductors work. Now, researchers from the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, the University of British Columbia, Yale University and others have taken a step in that direction by studying the fast dynamics of a material called yttrium barium copper oxide, or YBCO. The team reports May 20 in Science that YBCO’s superconductivity…
Study published in Nature reveals an elaborate linked quantum structure. As physicists delve deeper into the quantum realm, they are discovering an infinitesimally small world composed of a strange and surprising array of links, knots and winding. Some quantum materials exhibit magnetic whirls called skyrmions — unique configurations described as “subatomic hurricanes.” Others host a form of superconductivity that twists into vortices. Now, in an article published in Nature a Princeton-led team of physicists has discovered that electrons in quantum…
Thermal insulation is not only important for buildings, but also in quantum technologies. While insulation panels around a house keep the heat inside, quantum devices require insulation against heat from the outside world, as many quantum effects are only stable at low temperatures. What is needed are materials with extremely low thermal conductivity that are also compatible with the materials used in quantum technology. Novel sintering process A team led by Dr Klaus Habicht from HZB has now taken a…
Electronic nematicity, thought to be an ingredient in high temperature superconductivity, is primarily spin driven in FeSe finds a study in Nature Physics. Researchers from PSI’s Spectroscopy of Quantum Materials group together with scientists from Beijing Normal University have solved a puzzle at the forefront of research into iron-based superconductors: the origin of FeSe’s electronic nematicity. Using Resonant inelastic X-ray scattering (RIXS) at the Swiss Light Source (SLS), they discovered that, surprisingly, this electronic phenomenon is primarily spin driven. Electronic…
New insights into understanding turbulence in fusion plasmas. Results shown in this article were published in a scientific journal of the Nature publishing group, Scientific Reports. In order to achieve a fusion power plant, it is necessary to stably confine a plasma of more than 100 million degrees Celsius in a magnetic field and maintain it for a long time. A research group led by Assistant Professor Naoki Kenmochi, Professor Katsumi Ida, and Associate Professor Tokihiko Tokuzawa of the National…
As NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope moves through the final phases of commissioning its science instruments, we have also begun working on technical operations of the observatory. While the telescope moves through space, it will constantly find distant stars and galaxies and point at them with extreme precision to acquire images and spectra. However, we also plan to observe planets and their satellites, asteroids, and comets in our solar system, which move across the background stars of our galaxy. Webb needs to…
Researchers at the 5th Physical Institute of the University of Stuttgart have verified a novel binding mechanism forming a molecule between a tiny charged particle and in atomic measures gigantic Rydberg atom. The scientists could observe spatially resolved the molecule with the help of a self-build ion microscope. The well-known journal “Nature” published the results on May 18, 2022. When single particles like atoms and ions bond, molecules emerge. Such bonds between to particles can arise if they have for…
New approach paves the way for larger, more complex metalenses. Compact and lightweight metasurfaces — which use specifically designed and patterned nanostructures on a flat surface to focus, shape and control light — are a promising technology for wearable applications, especially virtual and augmented reality systems. Today, research teams painstakingly design the specific pattern of nanostructures on the surface to achieve the desired function of the lens, whether that be resolving nanoscale features, simultaneously producing several depth-perceiving images or focusing…
Recently, a collaborated team led by Prof. LI Liang and Prof. LI Guanghai at the Institute of Solid State Physics (ISSP), Hefei Institutes of Physical Science (HFIPS), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), together with Prof. YAN Feng from Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) developed a new 2D-based photodetector, featuring on ultrafast photoresponse and broadband detection capabilities. The photodetector, which was introduced in a paper recently published in ACS Nano, was made from layered ternary telluride InSiTe3. Photodetectors with broadband detection capabilities…
For the first time, researchers have succeeded in observing a new transport phenomenon in spin chains under the microscope – with surprising results: the movement in the quantum world resembles certain phenomena known from everyday life like the form of coffee stains on a tablecloth. The behaviour of microscopic quantum magnets has long been a subject taught in lectures in theoretical physics. However, investigating the dynamics of systems that are far out of equilibrium and watching them “live” has been…
New experimental work establishes how quantum properties of mechanical quantum systems can be measured without destroying the quantum state. When thinking about quantum mechanical systems, single photons and well-isolated ions and atoms may spring to mind, or electrons spreading through a crystal. More exotic in the context of quantum mechanics are genuinely mechanical quantum systems; that is, massive objects in which mechanical motion such as vibration is quantized. In a series of seminal experiments, quintessential quantum-mechanical features have been observed…
Future quantum computers are expected not only to solve particularly tricky computing tasks, but also to be connected to a network for the secure exchange of data. In principle, quantum gates could be used for these purposes. But until now, it has not been possible to realise them with sufficient efficiency. By a sophisticated combination of several techniques, researchers at the MPQ have now taken a major step towards overcoming this hurdle. For decades, computers have been getting faster and…
Researchers from the University of Rostock have developed a novel type of micro-structured material that enhances the speed of light signals while keeping them protected from scattering. Their discovery will be published online by the renowned journal “Science” on Thursday, 12 May, 2022. Photonic topological insulators (PTIs) are artificial materials that conduct light along their edges, yet block it from traversing their interior. These “superconductors for photons” have fascinated Prof. Alexander Szameit of the University of Rostock for a long…
A quantum system consisting of only 51 charged atoms can assume more than two quadrillion different states. Calculating the system’s behavior is a piece of cake for a quantum simulator. Yet even with today’s supercomputers it is almost impossible to verify the result. A research team from the University of Innsbruck and the Technical University of Munich (TUM) has now shown how these systems can be described using equations from the 18th century. At first glance, a system consisting of…
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