Category archives: Materials

An exotic magnetic topological heterostructure

An exotic magnetic topological heterostructure

Condensed matterDIPC Advanced materialsMaterials

By DIPC

Topological insulators are electronic materials that have a bulk band gap like an ordinary insulator but have conducting states on their edge or surface. The conducting surface is not what makes topological insulators unique, but the fact that it is protected due to the combination of spin-orbit interactions and time-reversal symmetry. Inducing magnetism in topological […]

Strong coupling between propagating phonon polaritons and organic molecules observed for the first time

Strong coupling between propagating phonon polaritons and organic molecules observed for the first time

Condensed matterMaterials

By DIPC

The so-called van der Waals materials consist of two-dimensional layers bound by weak van der Waals forces. After the isolation of graphene, the field of two-dimensional van der Waals materials has experienced an explosive growth and new families of two-dimensional systems and block-layered bulk materials have been created. This growth has been fuelled mainly by […]

Magnetism in graphene nanoribbons induced by a pair of boron atoms

Magnetism in graphene nanoribbons induced by a pair of boron atoms

Condensed matterDIPC Electronic PropertiesMaterials

By DIPC

Graphene nanoribbons (GNRs), are strips of graphene with ultra-thin width (<50 nm). Graphene ribbons, introduced as a theoretical model by Mitsutaka Fujita and coauthors to examine the edge and nanoscale size effect in graphene, have emerged as a promising material for nano electronics, as they combine many of the extraordinary properties of graphene with a […]

Magnetic Topological Quantum Chemistry, <i>ab initio</i> calculations included

Magnetic Topological Quantum Chemistry, ab initio calculations included

Condensed matterDIPC Advanced materialsMaterialsQuantum physics

By DIPC

Topological materials have special universal properties, which are 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. Topological materials behave like an ordinary insulator in the bulk but have conducting states on their boundaries, i.e., edges or […]

An intriguing link between Kerker conditions and energy conservation from fundamental principles

An intriguing link between Kerker conditions and energy conservation from fundamental principles

Condensed matterMaterials

By DIPC

A nanoantenna with balanced electric and magnetic dipole moments exhibits a directive radiation pattern with zero backscattering. This is known as the first Kerker condition after Kerker, Wang, and Giles, who predicted in 1983 that, under plane wave illumination, magnetic spheres with equal relative permittivity and permeability radiate no light in the backscattering direction. They […]

The critical role of single atoms on the electronic properties of a metal organic network

The critical role of single atoms on the electronic properties of a metal organic network

ChemistryDIPC Electronic PropertiesDIPC InterfacesMaterials

By DIPC

Organic-based materials have gained rising interest as active components in electronics, energy conversion and catalytic systems. However, the discrete nature of the molecular constituents of these systems implies a reduced electron conductance, lowering the device efficiency. In order to increase the electron delocalization through an improved structural order, which favors orbital overlap and consequently the […]

Black metallic hydrogen due to proton quantum fluctuations

Black metallic hydrogen due to proton quantum fluctuations

Condensed matterMaterialsQuantum physics

By DIPC

The most famous conjecture in condensed-matter physics was proposed in 1935, when Hillard Huntington and Eugene Wigner calculated the properties of hydrogen squeezed to high density and pressure. They predicted that under pressures above 25 gigapascals (GPa), hydrogen would undergo a density-driven transition from an insulating, molecular solid to a conducting, atomic solid . In […]