Category Physics

(Clockwise from left) Brookhaven Lab physicists Ivan Bozovic, Anthony Bollinger, and Jie Wu, and postdoctoral researcher Xi He are with the atomic layer-by-layer molecular beam epitaxy system used to synthesize more than 2,500 thin films of a copper-oxide compound called LSCO. The team studied LSCO to understand why it can become superconducting at a much higher temperature than the ultra-chilled temperatures required by conventional superconductors. Credit: Brookhaven National Laboratory

Understanding this exotic behavior may pave the way for engineering materials that become superconducting at room temperature...

A slice of (white) lithium garnet electrolyte coated with a (black) lithium compound acting as the battery’s minus pole in the laboratory of the ETH researchers. Credit: ETH Zurich / Fabio Bergamin

A new lithium-ion battery made entirely of solid material has been developed by scientists. It has neither liquids nor gels. The battery is non-flammable, even at very high temperatures, giving it a safety advantage over conventional batteries. Mobile phones, laptops, e-bikes and electric cars are all powered by such batteries.

Conventional lithium-ion batteries are not without their dangers: mobile phone batteries have exploded several times in the past, resulting in injuries, and only 6 months ago an entire row of houses burned down in the old town of Steckborn on Lake Constance...

In her research published in The Royal Society Dr Vaccaro says T violation, or a violation of time reversal (T) symmetry, is forcing the universe and us in it, into the future. (Stock image) Credit: © Stillfx / Fotolia

A/Prof Dr Joan Vaccaro, of Griffith’s Centre for Quantum Dynamics, has solved an anomaly of conventional physics and shown that a mysterious effect called ‘T violation’ could be the origin of time evolution and conservation laws. “I begin by breaking the rules of physics, which is rather bold I have to admit, but I wanted to understand time better and conventional physics can’t do that,” Dr Vaccaro says.

“I do get conventional physics in the end though. This means that the rules I break are not fundamental. It also means that I can see why the universe has those rules...

Scientists have proposed a graphene-based sensor that can ‘sniff out’ a single molecule of explosives. Credit: Graphene-based sensor

A graphene-based spaser can detect even small amounts of various substances, including explosives, toxic chemicals, and other organic compounds based on a single molecule. Scientists have long been fascinated by the potential applications of a quasiparticle called the plasmon, a quantum of plasma oscillations. In the case of a solid body, plasmons are the oscillations of free electrons.

Of special interest are the effects from the surface interactions of electromagnetic waves with plasmons – usually in the context of metals or semimetals, as they have a higher free electron density...