Category Technology/Electronics

A simulation of one-dimensional boron under stress shows the theoretical material changing phase from a ribbon to a chain of atoms when pulled. The chain returns to ribbon form when the stress is relieved. Credit: Yakobson Research Group

Simulations demonstrate 1D material’s stiffness, electrical versatility, Hold on, there, graphene. You might think you’re the most interesting new nanomaterial of the century, but boron might already have you beat, according to scientists at Rice University. A Rice team that simulated one-dimensional forms of boron – both two-atom-wide ribbons and single-atom chains – found they possess unique properties.

Eg, if metallic ribbons of boron are stretched, they morph into antiferromagnetic semiconducting chains, and when released they fold back into ribbons...

Image of diamond anvils compressing molecular hydrogen. At higher pressure the sample converts to atomic hydrogen, as shown on the right. Credit: R. Dias and I.F. Silvera

Physicists succeed in creating ‘the holy grail of high-pressure physics’. Nearly a century after it was theorized, Harvard scientists have succeeded in creating the rarest – and potentially one of the most valuable – materials on the planet. The material – atomic metallic hydrogen – was created by Thomas D. Cabot Professor of the Natural Sciences Isaac Silvera and post-doctoral fellow Ranga Dias. In addition to helping scientists answer fundamental questions about the nature of matter, the material is theorized to have a wide range of applications, including as a room-temperature superconductor.

“This is the holy grail of...

Vanadium dioxide (VO2) nanobeams synthesized by Berkeley researchers show exotic electrical and thermal properties. In this false-color scanning electron microscopy image, thermal conductivity was measured by transporting heat from the suspended heat source pad (red) to the sensing pad (blue). The pads are bridged by a VO2 nanobeam. Credit: Junqiao Wu/Berkeley Lab

The findings of vanadium dioxide properties could lead to a wide range of applications, such as thermoelectric systems that convert waste heat from engines and appliances into electricity, window coatings. For most metals, the relationship between electrical and thermal conductivity is governed by the Wiedemann-Franz Law. Simply put, the law states that good conductors of electricity are also good conductors of heat...

This is an illustration of a photon gun. A quantum dot (the yellow symbol) emits one photon (red wave packet) at a time. The quantum dot is embedded in a photonic crystal structure, which is obtained by etching holes (black circles) in a semiconductor material. Due to the holes, the photons cannot be emitted in all directions, but only along the waveguide, which is formed by omitting a number of holes. Credit: Illustration: Søren Stobbe, NBI

Advanced photonic nanostructures are well on their way to revolutionising quantum technology for quantum networks based on light. Researchers from the Niels Bohr Institute have now developed the first building blocks needed to construct complex quantum photonic circuits for quantum networks...