Author archives: DIPC

Nonequilibrium effects in hybrids of electron systems with spontaneously broken symmetries

Nonequilibrium effects in hybrids of electron systems with spontaneously broken symmetries

Condensed matterMaterialsNanotechnologyQuantum physics

By DIPC

Imagine a military regiment in formation. That we will call symmetry. Now imagine the same regiment when it is dismissed by the commanding officer: at once the soldiers disperse and tend to form domains (groups) or pairs. Hence, we can say that the symmetry is spontaneously broken. Both superconductors and ferromagnets are examples of electron […]

Avoiding geological timescales to access low energies in bulk glasses

Avoiding geological timescales to access low energies in bulk glasses

ChemistryCondensed matterMaterialsPhysics

By DIPC

Common glass, used in windows or bottles, for example, is made by heating a mixture of calcium oxide (lime), sodium carbonate (soda), and silicon (IV) oxide (sand), resulting in a calcium silicate. This silicate is not a crystal but a solid in which atoms are positioned at random and have no long-range ordered pattern. These […]

A route to the directional control of light–matter interactions at the nanoscale

A route to the directional control of light–matter interactions at the nanoscale

Condensed matterMaterialsNanotechnologyQuantum physics

By DIPC

Mobile phones and computers are currently responsible for up to 8% of the electricity use in the world. This figure has been doubling each past decade but nothing prevents it from skyrocketing in the future. Unless we find a way for boosting energy efficiency in information and communications technology, that is. An international team of […]

Vibrational spectra of liquids with nanometer spatial resolution

Vibrational spectra of liquids with nanometer spatial resolution

Condensed matterMaterialsNanotechnology

By DIPC

The ability to examine the vibrational spectra of liquids with nanometer spatial resolution will greatly expand the potential to study liquids and liquid interfaces. After all, modern technology, including many manufacturing processes, and science depend on understanding the detailed interactions at such nanoscopic interfaces. Actually, a better comprehension of the fundamental properties of the commonest […]

The role of core electrons in the electronic stopping power of heavy ions

The role of core electrons in the electronic stopping power of heavy ions

Condensed matterMaterialsPhysicsTheoretical physics

By DIPC

Spacecraft components potentially exposed to different ionic projectiles in space, new materials used in new energy systems or healthy tissues exposed to cancer therapies are all instances where a full comprehension of how the energy of the incoming ions is dissipated by the matter in the target is of paramount importance. Besides, the dissipative processes […]

How to build structures atom by atom using a scanning transmission electron microscope

How to build structures atom by atom using a scanning transmission electron microscope

Condensed matterMaterialsNanotechnology

By DIPC

“What would happen if we could arrange the atoms one by one the way we want them?” Richard Feynman Fabrication of matter atom by atom remains a long-standing dream and ultimate goal of nanotechnology, following the famous challenge by Feynman 58 years ago. For 30 years, the atom-by-atom fabrication remained the province of visionary thinking […]

Structurally well-defined boundaries in a fully accessible quantum spin Hall insulator

Structurally well-defined boundaries in a fully accessible quantum spin Hall insulator

MaterialsNanotechnologyQuantum physics

By DIPC

Imagine that we have a conductor or a semiconductor through which a current is flowing. Then we apply a strong transverse magnetic field. As a result, we can measure a potential difference at right angles to both the current and the field caused by the deflection of charge carriers by the field. This effect was […]

Topology of disconnected elementary band representations

Topology of disconnected elementary band representations

Condensed matterMaterialsPhysicsQuantum physicsTheoretical physics

By DIPC

The revolutionary theory of topological quantum chemistry , a description of the universal global properties of all possible band structures and materials, diagnoses topological phases based on elementary band representations. A set of bands is topological if it lacks an “atomic limit” that obeys the crystal symmetry (and time reversal, if desired): formally, an atomic […]

Surface-Enhanced Molecular Electron Energy Loss Spectroscopy

Surface-Enhanced Molecular Electron Energy Loss Spectroscopy

Condensed matterMaterialsNanotechnologyPhysicsQuantum physicsTheoretical physics

By DIPC

Chemists have a range of different spectroscopic techniques to study organic molecules. All of these techniques are based on spectra generated by a range of electronic transitions and vibrations, key excitations in matter, the study of which provides information about characteristics of materials and, therefore, allow their identification. In this context, one of those spectroscopic […]