Category Technology/Electronics

Scientists announced the first observation of a dynamic vortex Mott transition, which experimentally connects the worlds of quantum mechanics and classical physics and could shed light on the poorly understood world of non-equilibrium physics. Credit: Image courtesy Valerii Vinokur, Argonne National Laboratory/Science

It also could shed light on non-equilibrium physics, which is poorly understood but governs most of what occurs in our world. The finding may also represent a step towards more efficient electronics based on the Mott transition.

Magnetic fields penetrate superconducting material in the form of tiny filaments called vortices, which control the electronic and magnetic properties of the materials...

Understanding motions of thin layers may help design solar cells, flexible electronics and catalysts of the future. New research shows how individual atoms move in trillionths of a second to form wrinkles on a 3-atom-thick material. It was made possible with SLAC’s instrument for ultrafast electron diffraction (UED), which uses energetic electrons to take snapshots of atoms and molecules on timescales as fast as 100 quadrillionths of a second.

Monolayers, or 2D materials, contain just a single layer of molecules. In this form they can take on new and exciting properties such as superior mechanical strength and an extraordinary ability to conduct electricity and heat...

A schematic drawing of how a ring of exceptional points (shown in white) can be spawned from a Dirac point (a dot), and thus change the dispersion from the normal, widely known conical shape into an exotic lantern-like shape Credit: Courtesy of the researchers

Researchers create exotic states leading to new sensors and optical devices. The Dirac cone, named after Paul Dirac, started as a concept in particle and high-energy physics and has recently became important in condensed matter physics and material science. It describes aspects of graphene, suggesting the possibility of applications across various fields. Now physicists have found another phenomenon produced by the Dirac cone: It can spawn a “ring of exceptional points...