Category Physics

Part of the team members from NUS Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Institute are: (from left to right) Dr. Renshaw Wang, Dr. Huang Zhen, Assistant Professor Ariando and Professor T. Venkatesan. They are looking at a four-inch wafer on which a multi-component oxide film has been deposited using the pulsed laser deposition process.

A team led by researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS) has achieved a major breakthrough in magnetic interaction. By adding a special insulator, they make electrons “twirl” their neighbouring “dance partners” to transfer magnetic information over a longer range between two thin layers of magnetic materials...

The excitation of a spin liquid on a honeycomb lattice with neutrons. Credit: Image courtesy of University of Cambridge

This state, quantum spin liquid, causes electrons – thought to be indivisible building blocks of nature – to break into pieces. The researchers, including physicists from the Uni of Cambridge, measured the first signatures of these fractional particles, known as Majorana fermions, in a 2D material with a structure similar to graphene. Their experimental results successfully matched with one of the main theoretical models for a quantum spin liquid, known as a Kitaev model. Quantum spin liquids are mysterious states of matter which are thought to be hiding in certain magnetic materials, but had not been conclusively sighted in nature.

The observation of one of their most in...

Shear jamming image. Credit: Image courtesy of University of Southampton

Liquid-like materials with particles in, known as dense suspensions, are found in the food industry (eg molten chocolate) and clay deposits on the bottom of oceans or rivers. Understanding the ‘jamming transition’ – when such a system behaves like a solid (if you want to build something on it) or when it flows (important if you want to process it) – could help in the design of new materials that actively use this transition from fluid-like to solid-like behaviour.

Ivo Peters, Lecturer in Aerodynamics and Flight Mechanics Research Group at the Uni of Southampton...

Chunks of this sodium-based compound (Na2B12H12) (left) would function well in a battery only at elevated temperatures, but when they are milled into far smaller pieces (right), they can potentially perform even in extreme cold, making them even more promising as the basis for safer, cheaper rechargeables. Credit: Tohoku University, Japan

By chemically modifying and pulverizing a promising group of compounds, scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have potentially brought safer, solid-state rechargeable batteries 2 steps closer to reality. These compounds are stable solid materials that would not pose the risks of leaking or catching fire typical of traditional liquid battery ingredients and are made from commonly available substances.

The first advance cam...