Light emission (fluorescence or phosphorescence) in organic molecules, in the vast majority of cases, proceeds from the lowest energy excited state irrespective of the excitation energy used. This is known as the Kasha’s rule, which states that most of the molecules are emissive from the lowest energy, same (ground state) spin multiplicity, S1 excited state […]
nuclear star cluster This image from the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope shows the heart of M74 (or NGC 628), otherwise known as the Phantom Galaxy. Webb’s sharp vision has revealed delicate filaments of gas and dust in the grandiose spiral arms which wind outwards from the centre of this image. A lack of gas […]
Some materials have special universal properties protected against perturbations. Such properties are theoretically described by topology, a branch of mathematics concerned with the properties of geometrical objects that are unchanged by continuous deformations. So-called topological insulators are electronic materials that have a bulk band gap like an ordinary insulator but have conducting states on their […]
Condensed matter • DIPC Advanced materials • Materials • Quantum physics
The development of superconducting devices was greatly stimulated after the acceptance of the basic theory of superconductivity proposed in 1957 by John Bardeen, Leon Cooper, and Robert Schrieffer – BCS theory. The basic idea is that the electron waves in the superconducting state no longer act independently, as in Bloch’s model. Instead, they are paired […]
Catalysis • Chemistry • DIPC Electronic Properties • DIPC Interfaces • Materials
Organic compounds of sulphur that contain the group -S- linked to two hydrocarbons are known as thioethers. This alternative name to sulphides comes from the fact that they are analogues of ethers in which the oxygen is replaced by a sulphur; thioethers are generally more reactive than ethers, though. The formation of thioether structures increases […]
Thomas Kibble’s research on phase transitions and topological defects is most significant. Actually, the Kibble-Zurek mechanism (KZM) is a paradigmatic theory to describe the dynamics across both classical continuous phase transitions and quantum phase transitions. The Kibble-Zurek mechanism describes the non-equilibrium dynamics and the formation of topological defects in a system which is driven through […]
Two-dimensional (2D) materials are an ideal platform to artificially engineer heterostructures with new functionalities due to the weak van der Waals bonding between layers. Monolayers hosting symmetry-broken phases, such as superconductivity, magnetism, ferroelectricity, charge density waves (CDWs), or multiferroicity, represent the most interesting building blocks to design novel phases of matter. One of the main […]
Polaritons attract wide attention due to their ability to confine and guide light at the nanometre scale. These capacities are key for the development of ultrasmall resonators and waveguides that can be used for sensing, heat transfer and optical circuitry applications. But, what are polaritons in the first place? If, for the sake of the […]
Chemistry • DIPC Biochemistry • DIPC Interfaces • DIPC Particle Physics • Particle physics
The observation of the neutrinoless double beta decay is the only practical way to establish that neutrinos are their own antiparticles. But, because of the small masses of neutrinos, the lifetime of neutrinoless double beta decay is expected to be at least ten orders of magnitude greater than the typical lifetimes of natural radioactive chains […]
At the nanoscale, even the most basic quantum size effect, the induction of semiconducting gaps by electron confinement, requires ultimate precision. The case of graphene is a dramatic example, where deviations of a single atom in width can induce dramatic variations of the gap. As a consequence, local defects or variations in width can severely […]