Donostia International Physics Center (DIPC) is a singular research center born in 2000 devoted to research at the cutting edge in the fields of condensed matter physics, materials science, nanoscience, physical chemistry, cosmology, particle physics, and life-science-related physics. Since its conception DIPC has stood for the promotion of excellence in research, which demands a flexible space where creativity is stimulated by diversity of perspectives. Its dynamic research community integrates local host scientists and a constant flow of international visiting researchers.
In recent years, “twistronics” has shown that simply changing how two crystal layers sit on top of each other can completely transform their electronic behavior. When two lattices are slightly mismatched in size or rotated by a small angle, they create a larger repeating interference pattern called a moiré superlattice. This long-wavelength pattern acts like […]
Nanogels are among the most interesting examples of how chemists can build useful structures by working at the scale of single molecules. They are tiny soft particles made from polymers, long chain-like molecules, that are linked together into small three-dimensional networks. Because they can hold water and trap other molecules inside, nanogels are especially attractive […]
Condensed matter • DIPC Advanced materials • DIPC Interfaces • Quantum physics
In the world of quantum materials, some of the most important discoveries come not from finding new particles, but from learning to see familiar electrons in a new way. A striking example comes from a single layer of niobium diselenide, a crystal just one layer thick, where researchers have now directly mapped a hidden pattern […]
Deep beneath the Pyrenees, in a mountain laboratory carved out of rock near the Spanish village of Canfranc, physicists have switched on a machine built to listen for one of the rarest whispers in nature. The detector is called NEXT-100, and it began taking data in May 2024. Its story is not simply one of […]
Dark matter is a mysterious, invisible substance that makes up about 27% of the Universe’s total energy content. We cannot see it directly, only infer its presence through the gravity it exerts. For decades, cosmologists have described dark matter haloes as the invisible scaffolding within which galaxies form and live. Every galaxy, including our own […]
New research numerically demonstrates how carefully structured materials can control light in ways that are both precise and robust. It brings together ideas from photonics and topology to show how a laser can emerge from the boundary between two distinct optical regimes. The physical system considered in the study is a bilayer photonic crystal. A […]
Condensed matter • DIPC Advanced materials • Materials • Quantum physics
Every time a computer processes information, electrons shuttle through circuits carrying electric charge, and much of the energy they carry is wasted as heat. Spintronics proposes a different approach: instead of relying solely on the charge of electrons, exploit another of their properties called spin, a quantum-mechanical quantity that can be thought of as a […]
Condensed matter • DIPC Electronic Properties • Materials • Quantum physics
Imagine taking two identical sheets of chicken wire and laying them on top of one another. If you align them perfectly, they look like a single sheet. But if you rotate the top layer by just a tiny amount, a beautiful large-scale crawling pattern emerges. In physics, we call this a Moiré pattern. When we […]
Chemistry • DIPC Biochemistry • Evolution • Geosciences • Materials
The classic chemical garden experiment is a staple of introductory chemistry, where colorful, plant-like structures sprout from metal salt crystals dropped into a solution of sodium silicate. While these vibrant tubes look like biological life, they are entirely inorganic, driven by the physics of osmosis and the chemistry of precipitation. For decades, scientists have admired […]
When we peel a crystal down to its very last layer, the physics governing its behavior undergoes a radical shift. This transition from the bulk (three-dimensional) to the two-dimensional limit is where some of the most exotic phenomena in condensed matter physics emerge. Among these, Titanium Diselenide, or TiSe₂, has long fascinated researchers because of […]