New functional photonic materials and devices based on magnetism

Digital information technology has great impact on our lives that has strongly motivated scientists to look for faster and more energy-efficient ways to process streams of digital signals. Recently, electrical engineers has proposed using not just electricity but also light to send the signals even inside semiconductor chips, and condensed matter physicists...

read more "New functional photonic materials and devices based on magnetism"

Unusual magnetic behavior observed at a material interface

An exotic kind of magnetic behavior, driven by the mere proximity of two materials, has been analyzed by a team of researchers at MIT and elsewhere using a technique called spin-polarized neutron reflectometry. They say the new finding could be used to probe a variety of exotic physical phenomena, and could ultimately be used to produce key components...

read more "Unusual magnetic behavior observed at a material interface"

The world's first electrically powered optical nanoantenna

Using electricity to make a nanoantenna emit light: this is what physicists from the University of Würzburg have accomplished in a world first. They present their antenna measuring just 250 nanometres in ("Electrically driven optical antennas"). A gold particle at its centre: The world's first electrically powered optical antenna. Electrically powered...

read more "The world's first electrically powered optical nanoantenna"

In catalysis, a single atom makes all the difference

Fuel cell technology offers a highly efficient and environmentally safe method of electricity generation. However, many of these cells require expensive Platinum catalysts. Therefore, to reduce the costs of fuel cells, more efficient catalysts must be synthesized. Metal clusters containing small numbers of atoms are an exciting class of material that...

read more "In catalysis, a single atom makes all the difference"

Is graphene hydrophobic or hydrophilic?

The National Physical Laboratory's (NPL) Quantum Detection Group has just published research investigating the hydrophobicity of epitaxial graphene, which could be used in the future to better tailor graphene coatings to applications in medicine, electronics and more. Contrary to widely-held beliefs,...

read more "Is graphene hydrophobic or hydrophilic?"