/ en-us Â鶹ŇůÔş internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Â鶹ŇůÔşics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. Excitons, bound states between an electron (i.e., a negatively charged particle) and a hole (i.e., the absence of an electron) in materials, are a key focus of condensed matter physics studies. These bound states can give rise to interesting and uncommon quantum physical effects, which could be leveraged to develop optoelectronic and quantum technologies. /news/2025-09-hybridization-interlayer-excitons-bilayer-semiconductor.html Condensed Matter Optics & Photonics Sat, 20 Sep 2025 09:20:02 EDT news677331161 As the volume of scientific literature continues to grow, researchers are turning to artificial intelligence to sift through millions of research papers and uncover insights that can accelerate the discovery of new materials. /news/2025-09-materials-ai-powered-lab.html Analytical Chemistry Materials Science Fri, 19 Sep 2025 10:52:52 EDT news677497966 Black phosphorus nanoribbons (BPNRs), thin and narrow ribbon-like strips of black phosphorus, are known to exhibit highly advantageous electronic properties, including a tunable bandgap. This essentially means that the energy difference between the region where electrons are bound together (i.e., valence band) and that where electrons move freely (i.e., conduction band) can be easily controlled by adjusting the width of the nanoribbons. /news/2025-09-scalable-strategy-high-quality-black.html Nanophysics Nanomaterials Wed, 17 Sep 2025 12:33:07 EDT news677331181 A new study has successfully demonstrated the confinement of terahertz (THz) light to nanoscale dimensions using a new type of layered material. This could lead to improvements in optoelectronic devices such as infrared emitters used in remote controls and night vision and terahertz optics desired for physical security and environmental sensing. /news/2025-09-layered-material-successfully-confines-terahertz.html Condensed Matter Optics & Photonics Mon, 15 Sep 2025 17:19:04 EDT news677175541 MoirĂ© superlattices are periodic patterns formed when two or more thin semiconducting layers are stacked with a small twist angle or lattice mismatch. When 2D materials form these patterns, their electronic, mechanical, and optical properties can change significantly. /news/2025-09-trilayer-moir-superlattices-tunable-exciton.html Condensed Matter Optics & Photonics Fri, 12 Sep 2025 07:20:02 EDT news676805619 Researchers at Kaunas University of Technology (KTU), Lithuania, have developed new organic compounds that act as highly sensitive oxygen sensors. These sensors can accurately detect even the slightest amounts of oxygen in the environment—information that is crucial in situations where oxygen concentration can determine the success of a process or even a person's life. /news/2025-09-newly-compounds-highly-sensitive-oxygen.html Biochemistry Analytical Chemistry Thu, 11 Sep 2025 14:57:04 EDT news676821421 A new nanostructure acts like a wire and switch that can, for the first time, control and direct the flow of quantum quasiparticles called excitons at room temperature. /news/2025-09-nano-gated-excitons.html Nanophysics Nanomaterials Thu, 11 Sep 2025 14:56:03 EDT news676821361 A research team has developed a direct optical lithography (DOL) technology that patterns quantum dots (QDs) at ultra-high resolution using only light, without photoresist. Through this, they also provided guidelines for selecting cross-linkers essential for fabricating high-performance QLEDs. This achievement is regarded as a core fundamental technology that can be applied to a wide range of optoelectronic devices, including micro-QLEDs, ultra-high-resolution displays, transparent electronic devices, and next-generation image sensors. /news/2025-09-core-technology-ultra-high-resolution.html Nanophysics Nanomaterials Mon, 08 Sep 2025 15:19:03 EDT news676563542 Researchers at National Taiwan University designed a graphene oxide biochar TiO2 nanocomposite that combines adsorption capacity with superior photocatalytic activity. With strong material characterization and optoelectronic properties, it offers a novel and sustainable solution for antibiotic removal from livestock wastewater. /news/2025-09-reusable-nanocomposite-adsorption-photocatalysis-advanced.html Nanomaterials Mon, 08 Sep 2025 12:16:03 EDT news676552561 Just one year after NREL materials science researchers Matthew Hautzinger and Sage Bauers met to exchange notes on underexplored materials in nanotechnology, their synthesis of promising Zintl-phase quantum dots is attracting attention with its bright photoluminescent glow, chemical stability, and Earth-abundant ingredients. /news/2025-09-built-brilliance-zintl-phase-quantum.html Nanophysics Nanomaterials Thu, 04 Sep 2025 09:14:04 EDT news676196041 The notion of a phased array was initially articulated by Nobel Prize recipient K. F. Braun. Phased arrays have subsequently evolved into a formidable mechanism for wave manipulation. This assertion holds particularly true in the realm of ultrasound, wherein arrays composed of ultrasound-generating transducers are employed in various applications, including therapeutic ultrasound, tissue engineering, and particle manipulation. /news/2025-09-programmable-dynamic-ultrasound-wavefront.html Condensed Matter Optics & Photonics Wed, 03 Sep 2025 09:20:03 EDT news676109640 Polaritons are quasiparticles emerging from strong interactions between light particles (i.e., photons) and matter excitations (e.g., excitons). Over the past few years, researchers have found that these quasiparticles can alter fundamental chemical and physical processes. /news/2025-09-polaritons-enable-tunable-efficient-molecular.html Condensed Matter Optics & Photonics Wed, 03 Sep 2025 07:00:01 EDT news676036386 Despite the modern world relying heavily on digital optical communication, there has not been a significant improvement in the minimum attenuation—a measure of the loss of optical power per kilometer traveled—of optical fibers in around 40 years. Decreasing this loss would mean that the signal could travel further without being amplified, leading to more data being transmitted over longer distances, faster internet and more efficient networks. /news/2025-09-hollow-core-optical-fiber-transmits.html Optics & Photonics Tue, 02 Sep 2025 12:23:48 EDT news676034621 New research from the University of St Andrews paves the way for holographic technology, with the potential to transform smart devices, communication, gaming and entertainment. /news/2025-08-optoelectronics-holograms-smartphone-closer-everyday.html Condensed Matter Optics & Photonics Fri, 29 Aug 2025 12:40:03 EDT news675688168 From precision machining to advanced microscopy, the demand for higher-power, ultrafast lasers continues to grow. Traditionally, researchers have relied on single-mode fibers to build these lasers, but they face a fundamental physical limit on energy output. To break through this bottleneck, we have turned to multimode fibers, which can carry many light modes—essentially different shapes of light—at once, a technique known as spatiotemporal mode-locking (STML). /news/2025-08-laser-technique-boosts-power-individually.html Optics & Photonics Tue, 26 Aug 2025 07:00:04 EDT news675345617 A team of researchers has discovered how a little-known type of symmetry in quantum materials, called nonsymmorphic symmetry, governs the way these materials interact with intense laser light. /news/2025-08-hidden-symmetries-ways-quantum-materials.html Condensed Matter Optics & Photonics Thu, 21 Aug 2025 16:31:03 EDT news675012661 A study conducted by researchers from the Changchun Institute of Optics, Fine Mechanics and Â鶹ŇůÔşics (CIOMP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has demonstrated how nitrogen vacancies (VN) resolve asymmetric carrier injection in GaN-based light-emitting diodes (LEDs), providing a practical way to improve device efficiency. /news/2025-08-defect-carrier-gan-based.html Condensed Matter Optics & Photonics Thu, 21 Aug 2025 11:12:02 EDT news674993521 For years, engineers have sought better ways to build tiny, efficient lasers that can be integrated directly onto silicon chips, a key step toward faster, more capable optical communications and computing. /news/2025-08-simple-additive-method-perovskite-laser.html Optics & Photonics Wed, 20 Aug 2025 16:22:03 EDT news674925721 When light hits solar cells, so-called electron-hole pairs are created: the electrons are excited and can move almost freely in the material—i.e. to generate electricity. The electrons will leave 'positive gaps," so-called holes, in the semiconductor material. They can also move through the material. Both electrons and holes carry an electrical charge. They deform the surrounding atomic lattice on their way through the material slightly. /news/2025-08-ray-reveal-electron-hole-pairs.html Nanophysics Nanomaterials Mon, 18 Aug 2025 13:10:16 EDT news674741402 Researchers at the College of Design and Engineering (CDE) at the National University of Singapore (NUS) have developed a supramolecular co-assembly platform that produces chiral soft materials with strong and stable full-color circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) across the visible spectrum, including in red, which has historically been a difficult target. /news/2025-08-strategy-robust-circularly-polarized-luminescence.html Condensed Matter Optics & Photonics Fri, 15 Aug 2025 12:38:59 EDT news674480331 The ability to move electron-hole pairs—called excitons—in desired directions is important for generating electricity and creating fuels. This happens naturally in photosynthesis, making it a source of inspiration to researchers innovating optoelectronic devices. /news/2025-08-evidence-hyperbolic-exciton-polaritons.html Condensed Matter Optics & Photonics Thu, 14 Aug 2025 12:14:44 EDT news674392475 An international team of scientists led by Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) has developed a new type of ultracompact laser that is more energy efficient and consumes less power. /news/2025-08-energy-efficient-ultracompact-laser-loss.html Optics & Photonics Thu, 14 Aug 2025 11:34:04 EDT news674390042 Researchers at the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering, in collaboration with the Optical Systems Division at Broadcom Inc., report a broadband, polarization-insensitive unidirectional imager that operates in the visible spectrum, capable of high-efficiency image transmission in one direction while effectively suppressing image formation in the reverse direction. /news/2025-08-wafer-scale-nano-fabrication-multi.html Optics & Photonics Mon, 11 Aug 2025 16:27:02 EDT news674148421 In materials science, defects are usually seen as problems, unwanted microscopic features that degrade performance, reduce efficiency or shorten the lifespan of devices. But a recent breakthrough published in Advanced Materials is challenging that mindset. The study reveals that a specific structural "flaw" in crystals, known as the Ruddlesden-Popper (RP) fault, could be the key to developing brighter and more robust light-emitting materials. /news/2025-08-rethinking-imperfections-defects-powering-brighter.html Analytical Chemistry Materials Science Mon, 11 Aug 2025 12:19:48 EDT news674133578 Not all poisonous gases have a smell or a color. But a tiny grid of pastel- and candy-colored squares that effectively "sniffs" out hazardous chemicals in the air such as chlorosarin—a highly toxic nerve agent—could help detect them. Researchers report in ACS Sensors that the colorful patterns in their inexpensive and durable paper-based sensor array changed in the presence of poisonous gases, allowing for quick and accurate measurements within minutes. /news/2025-08-simple-sensor-quickly-poisonous-gases.html Analytical Chemistry Materials Science Thu, 07 Aug 2025 11:33:03 EDT news673785181 Scientists at the Center for Cell Dynamics, School of Biological and Behavioral Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, in collaboration with Carl Zeiss, have developed an innovative live-cell imaging technique that combines an exceptional resolution of 60 nanometers with fluorescence recovery after photobleaching, while significantly reducing light-induced cellular damage. This advancement allows researchers to observe intricate cellular processes with unprecedented clarity, opening new avenues for understanding fundamental biological mechanisms, including DNA repair and chromosome dynamics. The technology can also facilitate novel live-cell dynamics based drug target and drug screening methods that transcend the diffraction limit of systems. /news/2025-08-super-resolution-imaging-method-gentle.html Biotechnology Molecular & Computational biology Mon, 04 Aug 2025 13:00:03 EDT news673530744 In a major step toward next-generation electronics, researchers at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities have discovered a way to manipulate the direction of charge flow in ultrathin metallic films at room temperature using light. This discovery opens the door to more energy-efficient optical sensors, detectors, and quantum information devices. /news/2025-08-ultrathin-metallic-tunable-room-temperature.html Nanophysics Nanomaterials Mon, 04 Aug 2025 12:40:02 EDT news673529870 A new study uncovers revealing insights into how plastic materials used in electronics are formed, and how hidden flaws in their structure could be limiting their performance. /news/2025-08-molecular-imaging-uncovers-hidden-flaws.html Polymers Analytical Chemistry Fri, 01 Aug 2025 10:20:07 EDT news673261637 The ultrafast placement of an electron in a polar liquid generates collective molecular vibrations in a spherical nano-volume. The vibrations change the diameter of this sphere periodically for more than 100 picoseconds. /news/2025-08-ten-thousand-molecules-generation-vibrations.html Optics & Photonics Soft Matter Fri, 01 Aug 2025 09:14:34 EDT news673258467 UC Riverside researchers have unveiled a powerful new imaging technique that exposes how cutting-edge materials used in solar panels and light sensors convert light into electricity—offering a path to better, faster, and more efficient devices. /news/2025-07-imaging-method-reveals-generate-electricity.html General Â鶹ŇůÔşics Optics & Photonics Thu, 31 Jul 2025 06:24:48 EDT news673161883