Category archives: Condensed matter

Liquid crystals in motion mimic biological systems

Liquid crystals in motion mimic biological systems

ChemistryCondensed matterMaterials

By Mapping Ignorance

Liquid crystals are all around us, from cell phone screens and video game consoles to car dashboards and medical devices. Run an electric current through liquid crystal displays (LCDs) and they generate colours, thanks to the unique properties of these fluids: rearrange their shape, and they reflect different wavelengths of light. As the lab of […]

Why do materials get stronger when they are deformed?

Why do materials get stronger when they are deformed?

Condensed matterMaterials

By Mapping Ignorance

Author: Leah Burrows, Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences The earliest blacksmiths in the Bronze and Iron Ages figured out that when they deformed metal through bending or hammering, it became stronger. This process, known as work or strain hardening, is still used widely in metallurgy and manufacturing today to increase […]

Inducing an antiferromagnetic exchange coupling at a hybrid metal–organic interface

Inducing an antiferromagnetic exchange coupling at a hybrid metal–organic interface

Condensed matterDIPC InterfacesMaterialsNanotechnologyQuantum physics

By DIPC

Molecular spintronics is an emerging field that combines ferromagnetic materials with organic or metal–organic semiconductors. It benefits from the unique and exceptional properties of organic molecules, which go beyond inorganic ones. The strong response of many organic molecules to electrical, optical, ferromagnetic or antiferromagnetic stimuli bring new potential functionalities to the spintronic device. An effective […]

A Topological Phonon Database has been built

A Topological Phonon Database has been built

Condensed matterDIPC Advanced materialsQuantum physics

By DIPC

The discovery of materials with topologically nontrivial electronic bands has led to high-throughput computational efforts that uncovered such bands in most known inorganic crystalline materials. Thus, in 2017, a team of researchers presented what they called Topological Quantum Chemistry (TQC), a new and complete understanding of the structure of bands in a material that links […]

Parity-time symmetry for faster and stronger optical signal processing

Parity-time symmetry for faster and stronger optical signal processing

Condensed matterQuantum physics

By César Tomé

In the era of big data, signal processing faces significant challenges in terms of capacity and energy consumption due to the torrent of data to process. With over 90% of data transmitted through light, optical signal processing may offer unprecedented speed and energy efficiency compared to its electronic counterparts, as it operates without the need […]

Parallel-channel nanocryotrons in magnetic fields

Parallel-channel nanocryotrons in magnetic fields

Condensed matterNanotechnologyParticle physicsPhysics

By César Tomé

Superconductors can carry large electrical currents without any resistance. One situation where they don’t carry currents without resistance is when there is too much current. By designing microscopic electronic components made from very thin superconductors, researchers can use this effect to create a switch, like a transistor. Nanowire superconducting switching devices (called nanocryotrons, or nTrons […]

Contradictions in (Cs,K,Rb)V<sub>3</sub>Sb<sub>5</sub> are a feature, not a bug

Contradictions in (Cs,K,Rb)V3Sb5 are a feature, not a bug

Condensed matterDIPC Advanced materials

By DIPC

Spontaneously broken symmetries are at the heart of many phenomena of quantum matter and physics more generally. However, determining the exact symmetries that are broken can be challenging due to imperfections such as strain, in particular when multiple electronic orders are competing. This is exemplified by charge order in some kagome systems, where evidence of […]

The building block for magnetoelectric spin-orbit logic

The building block for magnetoelectric spin-orbit logic

Computer scienceCondensed matterMaterials

By César Tomé

Complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS) is a type of metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) fabrication process that uses complementary and symmetrical pairs of p-type and n-type MOSFETs for logic functions. CMOS technology is used for constructing integrated circuit chips, including microprocessors, microcontrollers, memory chips, and other digital logic circuits. After 50 years of continuous transistor size downscaling and […]

Ultrasensitive molecular sensing with surface-enhanced infrared absorption (SEIRA)

Ultrasensitive molecular sensing with surface-enhanced infrared absorption (SEIRA)

Condensed matterMaterialsNanotechnologyQuantum physics

By César Tomé

Sensors are essential tools for detecting and analysing trace molecules in a variety of fields, including environmental monitoring, food safety, and public health. However, developing sensors with high enough sensitivity to detect these tiny amounts of molecules remains a challenge. One promising approach is surface-enhanced infrared absorption (SEIRA), which uses plasmonic nanostructures to amplify the […]